Natural gas briefly pares losses after EIA data

MarketWatch.com - MarketPulse SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Natural-gas futures on Thursday briefly pared their losses after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of natural gas fell 157 billion cubic feet for the week ended Jan. 3. The fall was a bit more than expected as analysts surveyed by Platts forecast a drop of between 148 billion cubic feet and 152 billion cubic feet. Total stocks now stand at 2.817 trillion cubic feet, down 528 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 315 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. February natural gas was at $4.16 per million British thermal units, down 6 cents, or 1.4%. It traded as high as around $4.18 immediately after the data, then slipped back to where it traded before the report.Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.