EIA Reports 64 Billion-cubic-foot Rise In U.S. Natural-gas Supplies

Natural-gas futures traded higher Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that supplies of the commodity rose 64 billion cubic feet for the week ended July 8. That was close to the average rise of 60 billion cubic feet expected by analysts polled by S&P Global Platts. Total stocks now stand at 3.243 trillion cubic feet, up 507 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 586 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. August natural gas was up 1.3 cents, or 0.5%, at $2.75 per million British thermal units from Wednesday's settlement. It traded at $2.742 before the data.