Natural gas prices rallied to their highest level in more than 10 months as the Energy Information Administration reported a later-than-expected decline in stockpiles.
January natural gas finished at $5.298 per million British thermal units, up 40 cents on the session.
The EIA reported a drop of 64 billion cubic feet in the week ended December 4. Experts were looking for a decline of around 44 billion to 48 bcf.
Working gas in storage was 3.773 trillion cubic feet. Stocks were 472 Bcf higher than last year at this time and 513 bcf above the five-year average.
In the East Region, stocks were down 31 bcf, inventories in the Producing Region were down 24 bcf and stocks in the West Region were down 9 bcf.
In economic news, a Labor Department report showed that initial jobless claims rose to 474,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 457,000. The modest increase came as a surprise to economists, who had been expecting jobless claims to edge down to 455,000.
Meanwhile, a Commerce Department report showed that the trade deficit narrowed to $32.9 billion in October from a revised $35.7 billion in September. Economists had been expecting the deficit to widen to $36.8 billion from the $36.5 billion originally reported for the previous month.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.