Considering advanced prints from CME Group for natural gas futures markets, open interest increased by around 3.2K contracts at the end of last week, reversing at the same time three consecutive daily drops. On the opposite direction, volume dwindled for the second straight day, now by more than 54K contracts.

Natural Gas: Next on the downside comes the 200-day SMA

Prices of natural gas dropped to multi-week lows around $2.800 on Friday, extending the monthly retracement for the third week in a row at the same time. The daily pullback was accompanied by increasing open interest, exposing further weakness in the very near term and with immediate contention at the key 200-day SMA near the $2.600 mark per MMBtu.