Washington (Platts)--24Jan2011/514 pm EST/2214 GMT
After failing to extend an overnight rally, the NYMEX February natural gas futures contract tumbled 15.6 cents to settle Monday at $4.58/MMBtu as forecasts for February shifted to warmer weather. IAF Advisors analyst Kyle Cooper said the selloff came after 11- to 15-day weather forecasts came out even warmer than the morning forecasts. "It's just that the market sees the end of winter," he said. But Enerjay analyst Jay Levine cautioned about overstating Monday's action. "We've made substantial gains off the lows in [gas] and a drop of 15.6 [cents] on any given day doesn't necessarily mean much," he said. Levine also noted that the contract is still not anywhere near technical support, which he places between $4.50/MMBtu and $4.40/MMBtu. The contract opened Monday at $4.802/MMBtu and traded between $4.557/MMBtu and $4.879/MMBtu. --Cheryl Buchta, cheryl_buchta@platts.comSimilar stories appear in Gas Daily. See more information at http://bit.ly/GasDaily