Natural Gas Price Forecast: XNG/USD pares the biggest daily loss in a month near $2.20 amid sluggish markets

• Natural Gas remains sidelined after falling the most in a month.
• Mixed concerns surrounding recession, Fed and US dollar trouble XNG/USD traders.
• Bears keep the reins amid hopes of warmer weather in the West, less demand of Russian gas.
• EIA Natural Gas inventories, US inflation clues eyed for further directions.

Natural Gas (XNG/USD) price treads water around $2.22 during early Thursday morning in Europe. In doing so, the energy instrument justifies the market’s inaction while seeking more clues for a clear guide after falling the most in one month the previous day.

That said, increasing fears of recession, or at least softer growth numbers, in the West joined the talks of Northern Ireland’s (NI) ban on Russian gas imports to weigh on the XNG/USD prices the previous day. It’s worth noting that China’s downbeat inflation data also exerted downside pressure on the Natural Gas price before the recently upbeat trade figures from the dragon nation offered a tailwind.

Headlines from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) flag fears of slower growth, if not recession, for the global economy moving forward. On the same line could be the macros suggesting the warmer weather in the West and more bans on Russian gas from nations of the old continent, namely Europe.

It’s worth noting, however, that downbeat US inflation and dovish Fed Minutes weigh on the US Dollar and allow the XNG/USD to consolidate the previous day’s losses as traders seek more catalysts after witnessing a volatile Wednesday.

While portraying the mood, the US 10-year and two-year Treasury bond yields print mild gains around 3.41% and 3.98% respectively. That said, the US 10-year Treasury bond yields snapped a three-day uptrend with mild losses to around 3.40% while the two-year counterpart also eased to 3.96% by marking the first daily negative in five. Further, S&P 500 Futures print mild gains despite downbeat Wall Street closing whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 rise 0.60% intraday as we write.

Looking forward, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) Natural Gas Storage Change for the week ended on April 07, prior -23B, will be important for intraday directions. That said, the US US Producer Price Index (PPI) for March and Friday’s preliminary readings of the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for April, as well as risk catalysts, could also entertain XNG/USD traders.

Technical analysis

Natural Gas price remains bearish between the 21-DMA and seven-week-old horizontal support zone, respectively near $2.31 and $2.12.