
U.S. natural gas surged as much as 72% ahead of the expiration of the thinly traded February contract as weather forecasts turned colder. CME Group confirmed the price jump.
Colder forecasts boosted heating demand expectations, but the spike was amplified by a short squeeze in an illiquid contract. Higher natural gas costs raise energy and drying expenses for feed producers.
Not enough comparable past events yet for a historical read.
Moves of each commodity's benchmark from the last close before the event. Historical reads pool past events of the same kind; they describe what happened, not what will. Not investment advice.
Bloomberg reported a record short squeeze with prices surging as much as 72% ahead of February expiry, directly explaining the outsized z-score move.