Natural gas plumbs five-week trough on US inventory buildup

Natural gas futures fell in American trade to August 2 lows, after earlier US data showed another inventory buildup for the 18th week in a row. 

As of 07:58 GMT, natural gas futures due in October fell 0.57% to $2.78 per million British thermal units, marking five-week lows, while the dollar index shed 0.15% to 95.04 against a basket of major rivals. 

US Inventory Buildup 

The Energy Information Administration released its report on US natural gas stockpiles, showing a buildup of 63 billion cubic feet in the week ending August 31, adding to 70 billion in the previous week, while analysts expected a 60 billion increase. 

Total inventories rose to 2.568 trillion cubic feet from 2.505 trillion in the week ending August 24, which is below the total in the same period of 2017 at 3.211 trillion, while also below the five-year average at 3.158 trillion. 

US Services, Labor Data 

Earlier US data showed the private sector added 163 thousand jobs in August, slowing down from 217K in July, and missing estimates of 195K. 

Productivity rose 2.9% y/y, matching estimates and up from 0.4% in the first quarter, while labor costs fell 1.0% in the second quarter, compared to a 2.9% increase in the first.  

The ISM Services PMI rose to 58.5 in August from 55.7, beating estimates of 56.8. 

Services PMIs derive their importance from the fact the services sector constitute two thirds of American GDP, with the indicators providing a look into many vital sectors such as housing, retail, utilities, healthcare, and finance. 

Finally, factory orders fell 0.8% in July, compared to a 0.7% increase in June, and missing estimates of a 0.5% drop.