After trading to $1.967 March rallied into expiration to settle at $2.451 (+$.484). Even with positive closes for its last two trading days, it was the lowest contract expiration since October ’20 settled at $2.101. It doesn’t seem like much, but prompt March rallied to close higher in two of the last three weeks, perhaps a redefining event– more importantly, the deferred contracts rallied a fair amount more than they did two weeks ago. For example, when March ended week ending 02/10 $.121 higher the summer strip was $.099 higher, winter ’23 – ’24 $.020 higher. This week with prompt gas closing $.176 better the summer was $.203 higher, winter $.128. Given the magnitude of the declines in those strips over the last few months, that may not seem like a big deal, but perhaps the gas market is beginning to change.
Following that first print under $2 since prompt gas spent about a week there while constructing the September ’20 low, March reversed higher accompanied by increasing volume (due to the Holiday shortened week I will us the average daily volume did increase modestly) Tuesday – Thursday was greater than the corresponding days the prior week when March was falling. Weekly reversals more likely when they begin from an undercut of a previous weekly low and an extremely oversold condition, have long been the gas market’s preferred method of communicating that the price pendulum had swung too far one way or the other. Often those reversals create momentum divergences because mathematical indicator. In this case the the weekly RSI, didn’t have time to catch up to confirm the lower price low (these divergences have been discussed previously).
