Natural gas prices bullish momentum accelerates

Natural gas prices remained at elevated levels as demand continues rising and as the cooling season starts. Prices for June delivery rose to $9.4 per million British thermal units, which means that they have risen by over 20% this month. This price has risen sharply because of the demand and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Analysts believe that prices could keep rising if the hot weather arrives and air conditioners are switched on before gas is injected into storage facilities ahead of winter. Data published on Wednesday showed that inventories in the US was 15% lower than the five-year average.

Global stocks rose even after the hawkish minutes by the Federal Reserve. In Europe, the DAX and CAC 40 indices rose by 0.35% while in the US, futures tied to the Dow Jones and S&P 500 rose by 0.25%. In its minutes, the Fed said that it will embrace a restrictive policy to fight inflation. They noted that they will increase interest rates by 0.50% several times this year. It will also continue start to reduce its balance sheet as it tries to engineer a soft landing. This is a situation where it brings inflation down without causing a recession. 

Stocks are also rising as investors focus on the ongoing earnings season. Nvidia was one of the biggest movers after the company published weak quarterly results. The stock dropped by more than 6% after it warned about growth of its data center and gaming business. The earnings season will continue today as companies like Movado, Manchester United, Lions Gate, VMWare, FarFetch, Dollar General, and Macy’s expected to publish their results.

XNG/USD

The XNGUSD pair has been in a strong upward trend as natural gas demand continues. The pair rose to a high of 9.45, which was above the highest point this year. It moved above the 25-day and 50-day moving averages while the MACD has moved above the neutral level. The Commodity Channel Index (CCI) has also moved above the overbought level. The pair will likely keep rising as bulls target the key resistance level at 9.45.

EUR/USD

The EURUSD pair rose to a high of 1.0718 as investors reacted to the latest Fed minutes. It rose to a high of 1.0718, which was the highest level this week. The pair is trading close to the upper side of the Bollinger Bands. At the same time, the Relative Strength Index has moved slightly below the overbought level. The MACD has moved above the neutral level. The pair will likely keep rising during the American session.

ETH/USD

The ETHUSD pair made a bearish breakout after spending weeks in a consolidation phase. As it dropped, the pair moved below the lower side of the bearish pennant pattern. The pair has moved below the 25-day and 50-day moving averages. At the same time, the MACD and the Relative Strength Index (RSI) have all dropped. Therefore, the pair will likely keep falling in the near term.