The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that domestic natural-gas supplies rose by 11 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 6. That compared with an average analyst forecast for a decline of 12 billion cubic feet, according to a survey conducted by S&P Global Commodity Insights. Total working gas stocks in storage stand at 2.902 trillion cubic feet, down 140 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 40 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. Following the data, February natural gas NGG23 was up 18.4 cents, or 5%, at $3.855 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded at $3.808 before the supply data.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.