..i dati americani di oggi hanno gelato il rally...
NEW YORK—Natural-gas futures extended early losses after a report showed U.S. manufacturing production fell for the first time in 10 months.
Natural gas for June delivery traded down 1.31 cents, or 3%, to $4.187 a million British thermal units in early afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The manufacturing sector accounts for one-third of U.S. natural-gas demand, and any signs of a slowdown tends to pull the price lower.
The Federal Reserve said industries used 76.9% of their capacity last month, down 0.1 percentage point from the revised March figure. Manufacturing capacity utilization fell 0.4 percentage point to 74.4%.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a 0.3-percentage-point increase in output and a capacity utilization rate of 77.6%.
"That report has quite logically engendered some negative price action in the natural-gas market," said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics in Austin, Texas.
Natural-gas prices had started the day lower, reversing much of Monday's gains as market participants awaited a clearer picture of weather-driven demand this summer.
Weather forecasts continued to call for below-normal temperatures in the central and eastern U.S. for most of the next five days.
"We are going to see a return of some hot weather, but not strongly enough to generate elevated cooling use, so we're stuck in the middle of this range," said Gene McGillian, a broker at the Stamford, Conn., firm.
Natural-gas futures have wobbled between $4 and $4.35 a million British thermal units since May 5, when a selloff across the commodities market sent the contract tumbling from highs above $4.70. Since then, the market has seen an exodus of speculative traders, keeping prices under pressure, Mr. McGillian said.
"The market tried to rally three weeks ago and we got above $4.70, but it looked like we got some headwinds," he said.
Traders also are awaiting further cues from Thursday's report on U.S. gas inventories, which stand at 2% below the five-year average and 12% under 2010 levels.
Supplies, however, are expected to jump in the coming weeks. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week it expects working gas inventories to build "strongly" during summer and to approach record highs in the second half of 2011