NEW YORK: US natural gas futures jumped about 23percent to a six-week high on Wednesday after soaring 26percent on Tuesday on expectations extreme cold will boost heating demand to near-record levels while also cutting output by freezing oil and gas wells.
Front-month gas futures for February delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) jumped 88.4 cents, or 22.6 percent, to USD4.791 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), putting the contract on track for its highest close since December 8.
That put the contract on track to soar about 54percent over the past two days, its biggest two-day gain since prices jumped 55percent on January 27, 2022.
Those gains pushed the contract into technically overbought territory for the first time since early December as some traders were forced to cover short bets.
The price move also boosted historic or actual 30-day close-to-close futures volatility to 126.7percent, its highest since March 2022.
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