Following a bearish close on Tuesday on the Continental gas markets, on both the prompt and curve, trading on Wednesday morning was mixed, with most day-ahead contracts bullish, while the curve slid further.
Dutch TTF day-ahead contracts gained 35 euro cent from close of business Tuesday, changing hands at Eur23.90/MWh by 1200 GMT. On both neighboring German NetConnect and GASPOOL hubs, day-ahead prices also rose 35 euro cent to Eur24.00/MWh and Eur24.05/MWh respectively.
The largest day-on-day gain was at the Austrian Baumgarten where, assessed at Eur26.00/MWh, next-day delivery contracts were up by 90 euro cent.
The only spot exception was the PEG Nord day-ahead contract which edged lower by 10 euro cent to Eur24.00/MWh.
In contrast, forward curve contracts at the TTF moved lower. March prices shed 25 euro cent and were heard at Eur24.25/MWh, while Summer 12 contracts were down 30 euro cent and changing hands at Eur24.50/MWh. Cal 13 prices were also down 30 euro cent from close of business Tuesday, and traded at Eur27.25/MWh.
"The dip on the curve is natural after it got, I believe, a bit too high last week on oil, and I expect a pause on the curve soon," a trader said. "Spot prices went up because we've heard the weather will get colder after the weekend."
According to forecaster CustomWeather, temperatures in many cities in the Continent are expected to be well above seasonal norms for the rest of the week, but could dip below average by the start of next week. For example, Munich is expected to experience 4 degrees Celsius above freezing on Tuesday, 3 degrees C below the average for that time of year.
