Natural gas edges lower on forecasts for U.S. summertime cool snap

           Natural gas futures edged lower on Monday after updated weather-forecasting models predicted below-normal temperatures to sweep in from Canada into the Midwest this week and trek east.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in August traded at $4.130 per million British thermal units during U.S. trading, down 0.40%. The commodity hit a session high of $4.172 and a low of $4.096.

The August contract settled down 0.63% on Friday to end at $4.146 per million British thermal units.

Natural gas futures were likely to find support at $4.096 per million British thermal units, the session low, and resistance at $4.356, the high from July 7.

A weather system similar to the Polar Vortex from last winter will bring below-normal temperatures to the U.S. Midwest and head east this week, which sent natural gas prices dipping on Monday.

Below-normal temperatures this time of year cut into demand for air conditioning, which curbs demand for natural gas.

Supply data from last week pressured prices as well, though bottom fishing prevented prices from plummeting and stabilized the commodity.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report last Thursday that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ending July 4 rose by 93 billion cubic feet, above expectations for an increase of 92 billion cubic feet.

The five-year average change for the week is an increase of 72 billion cubic feet.

Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 2.022 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 653 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 769 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 2.791 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.

Elsewhere on the NYMEX, light sweet crude oil futures for delivery in August were down 0.22% at $100.61 a barrel, while heating oil for August delivery were up 0.14% at $2.8650 per gallon. - investing.com