Natural gas futures rose Rs 169.3 per mmBtu on August 10 as participants increased their long positions. Prices gained a whopping 24 percent last week on the NYMEX, testing the highest level since December 2019.

The commodity was supported by the forecast of hot weather in some parts of the US and expectations of higher LNG exports due to pick-up in global manufacturing activity.

In the futures market, natural gas for August delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 170.90 and a low of Rs 169.10 per mmBtu on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, natural gas has touched a low of Rs 121.40 and a high of Rs 171.60.

Natural gas futures for August delivery gained Rs 1, or 0.59 percent, to Rs 169.30 per mmBtu at 14:48 hours IST on a business turnover of 8,924 lots.

The same for September delivery jumped Rs 0.5, or 0.28 percent, at Rs 179.40 per mmBtu on a business volume of 1,289 lots.

The value of August and September contracts traded so far is Rs 522.95 crore and Rs 16.84 crore, respectively.

“After a sharp breakout last week, natural gas is still holding above $2/mmBtu levels, indicating that the momentum is still on the upside. We, however, expect choppy trade due to mixed factors. One needs to wait for lower levels to create fresh longs,” according to Kotak Securities.

At 09:21 (GMT), natural gas prices was up 0.49 percent at $2.24 per mmBtu in New York.