Considering advanced prints from CME Group for natural gas futures markets, open interest dropped for the second straight session on Monday, this time by just 503 contracts. Volume, too, went down by around 16.5K contracts and reversed the previous daily build.

Natural Gas: Further consolidation in store near term

Prices of natural gas printed decent gains on Monday. The uptick, however, was accompanied by dwindling open interest and volume, which removes some strength from the continuation of the uptrend. Against that, the commodity could likely face extra range bound trading for the time being. Occasional bullish moves, in the meantime, remain capped by the 200-day SMA near the $6.85 per MMBtu.