Natural gas rises for first time in three days, dollar glides off year peak

Natural gas futures rose in American trade away from May 22 lows, as the dollar index slid away from July 14, 2017 highs for the fourth session out of seven, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest energy consumer, which showed another inventory buildup for the ninth week in a row. 

As of 07:13 GMT, natural gas futures due on August 15 rose 0.49% to $2.85 per million British thermal units from the opening of $2.84, while the dollar index slipped 0.36% to 94.05 from the opening of 94.39, marking June 14 lows. 

US Labor Data 

Earlier US data showed the unemployment rate up to 4.0% in June from 3.8% in May, a 2000 nadir, while average earnings rose 0.2%, slowing down from 0.3%. 

The US economy created 213 thousand new jobs in June, down from 244K in May and beating forecasts of 195K as the trade deficit shrank to $43.1 billion from $46.1 in April, beating forecasts of 43.6. 

Another Week, Another Buildup  

The Energy Information Administration released its report on US natural gas stocks, showing a buildup of 78 billion cubic feet in the week ending June 29, adding to a 66B buildup in the previous reading, while analysts expected a 76B increase. 

Total stocks now rose 2.152 trillion cubic feet from 2.074 trillion in the week ending June 22, which is below the total of the same period in 2017 at 2.869 trillion, while also below five-year averages at 2.645 trillion. 

US Fires At China

On Friday, the US started implementation of new tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese product, mostly electronics, equipment, and tech devices with China responding with 25% taxes on US imports with the list of products still to be announced.