NATURAL GAS PRICE ANALYSIS: XNG/USD SITS NEAR TWO-WEEK HIGH; TECHNICAL SETUP FAVOURS BULLS

Natural Gas price scales higher for the third straight day and climbs to a nearly two-week top.

The recent bounce from the 100-day SMA and the ascending channel formation favour bulls.

Positive oscillators on the daily chart support prospects for an extension of the positive move.

Natural Gas price builds on the goodish rebound from a multi-week low, around the $2.5760 area touched last Thursday and gains strong follow-through traction for the third successive day. The XNG/USD jumps to the $2.8560 region, or a nearly two-week peak during the Asian session on Monday and seems poised to appreciate further.

The recent move-up witnessed over the past two months or so has been along an upward-sloping channel, which points to a well-established short-term bullish trend. This, along with the recent bounce from the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), validates the constructive outlook for the XNG/USD. Moreover, technical indicators on the daily chart have just started moving in positive territory and suggest that the path of least resistance for the Natural Gas price is to the upside.

Hence, a subsequent strength towards the $2.9400 intermediate hurdle, en route to the $3.0000 psychological mark, looks like a distinct possibility. The momentum could get extended and lift the XNG/USD towards the monthly peak, around the $3.0580 zone, en route to the 200-day SMA, near the $3.1535 area. This is followed by the top end of the aforementioned trend-channel, currently pegged near the $3.2355 region, which if cleared will be seen as a fresh trigger for bulls.

On the flip side, the $2.7900-$2.7800 area now seems to protect the immediate downside ahead of the 50-day SMA, around the $2.7055 region. A convincing break below the latter will expose the trend-channel support near the $2.6085 zone, which is closely followed by the 100-day SMA, around the $2.5600 level. Some follow-through selling will confirm the trend-channel breakdown and shift the near-term bias in favour of bearish traders