NYMEX natural gas ends up

NYMEX natural gas futures ended higher Wednesday, backed by still-strong cash premiums to the screen and technical buying after a sharp slide early this week despite softer crude and milder US weather forecasts, traders said.
August natural gas futures climbed 30.7 cents, or 5.5 percent, to close at $5.862 per million British thermal units after trading between $5.655 and $5.93.
September settled 31.5 cents higher at $5.984. Winter months lagged slightly, with January ending up 25 cents at $10.099.
"It was a constructive day. The market has been perpetually oversold and was looking for any excuse to bounce. Because of the heat, I think people are expecting the next several storage reports to fall on the light side," said Jay Levine at enerjay LLC, an energy brokerage and consulting firm in Maine.
Traders noted that natgas players shrugged off weaker crude prices, off 88 cents a barrel on Wednesday to $72.66, but few expected much upside with Northeast and Midwest weather moderating after near record heat early in the week.
After a hot start to the week as readings in the Northeast and Midwest, key gas consuming regions, climbed to near 100 degrees F, temperatures were expected to moderate to near normal for the next 10 days, according to AccuWeather.
Heat is expected to continue in the West for at least the next week.
The National Weather Service eight- to 14-day outlook released Wednesday called for above normal temperatures for the eastern third of the nation and the West Coast, with seasonal or below seasonal readings expected for the rest of the US
Despite the early-week heat wave and cash prices still at a premium to the screen, many traders still expected record high inventories to limit any upside, particularly with more seasonal weather forecast and no hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico to threaten supplies.
Last week's storage report issued by the US Energy Information Administration showed that total domestic gas inventories of 2.704 trillion cubic feet stood 426 billion cubic feet, or 19 percent, above last year.
And the overall stock total was still 581 bcf, or 27 percent, above the five-year average, a huge cushion that has eased concerns about building enough supplies for next winter.