Natural gas almost erased the entire gain since last Thursday after the US Energy Department reported unexpected increase in natural gas inventory for the week ended Mar 20. The April contract dived 10%, the deepest fall in 19 months to 3.971 yesterday before recovering to close at 4.0343.

Storage gained 3 bcf 1654 bcf last week, compared with 5-year average of 49 bcf reduction, as heating demand plunged sharply after the cold-weather months. Stockpiles were 20% above the 5-year average and 29% higher than the same period in 2008.

Performance of natural gas price has been lagging crude oil and others in the energy complex. Considering spot price performance, it's the worst performer in 2009 with a year-to-date decline of 30%. Demand for natural demand is highly dependent on economic growth as a significant percentage of its consumption is on industrial uses and power generation. Despite unprecedented reduction in rig counts means supply is contracting, signs of economic recovery will need to revive investors'sentiment and trade the commodity higher.

In tandem with rallies in stock markets, crude oil rose 3% to settle at 54.34 Thursday. Final reading for 4Q08 GDP showed that economic contraction in the US was less than anticipated. 4Q08 GDP came in at -6.3% qoq, compared with market expectation of -6.6% and -6.2% a quarter ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 2.25% to settle at 7925 while the S&P 500 index gained 2.33% to close at 833.

According to Oil Movements, OPEC seaborne oil exports, excluding Angola and Ecuador, will fall 0.77m bpd in the 4 weeks to April 11. So far, OPEC has demonstrated strict compliance to output reduction and this should help support price above 50 in the near term.

Gold price edged higher with 0.4% gain to 940 yesterday as led by strong investment demand - bullion holdings in SPDR reached 1124.99 metric tons yesterday. On the other hand, platinum price rose to 6-month high of 1167.4 before settling 2.4% higher at 1149.5. Investors anticipated the auto market will pick up as global economy recovers. Moreover, US'additional funding to carmakers is expected to help the collapsing industry overcome the down cycle.