Natural Gas falls as market prices in cold weather, bullish supply data

Natural gas futures edged lower on Friday after investors priced in chilly weather forecasts and bullish supply data, locked in gains and later sold for profits. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in April traded at USD3.474 per million British thermal units, down 0.33%. The commodity hit a session low of USD3.441 and a high of USD3.518. Cold and snowy weather continued to settle in for much of the heavily populated central and eastern portions of the U.S., which sent prices rising earlier. Investors also bought earlier in the day on bullish supply data released by the U.S. government on Thursday. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report released earlier that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 22 fell by 171 billion cubic feet compared to expectations for a drop of 167 billion cubic feet.

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Crude-Oil Futures Settle at 2013 Low of $90.68 a Barrel

Prices slumped early on official data from China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer, showing the February purchasing managers' index at 50.1, fractionally above the no-growth mark and down from a reading of 50.4 in January. Worries over a record-high euro-zone unemployment rate of 11.9% in January kept the market on edge as traders worried about Italy's ability to continue economic reforms after its recent elections. In the U.S., the Commerce Department said personal income dropped to a 20-year low in January as higher taxes kicked in. Personal incomes fell 3.6%, compared with economists' forecasts for a 2.5% decline. Consumers responded by saving less, rather than spending less, as consumer spending ticked up 0.2%. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama offered no hint of any deal between the White House and Congress to avoid automatic spending cuts of $85 billion as a deadline loomed.

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