Traders Trim Long Bets in Natural Gas Futures Further From Three-Year High

Traders continue to tap the brakes on long positioning in natural gas futures, dampening bullish support after a gusher of trade flows helped propel the prompt-month contract to nearly $5/MMBtu two weeks ago.

Professional speculators reduced net long positioning by 34,000 contracts in Friday’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Commitments of Traders report that covers the week ending Tuesday (March 18).

That reduction was the net of 39,000 fewer long positions and 5,000 less short positions, according to EBW Analytics Group senior analyst Eli Rubin. Over the past two weeks, speculators closed 58,000 long positions, Rubin said, citing “a warm March, early start to the injection season, and growing recognition of a fundamentally soft spring.”