Natural gas futures managed to break above the $4 per million BTU mark, helped by a general increase in risk appetite and stormy weather in the Atlantic.
 
September began on a bad note for commodities, but risk appetite has slowly recovered over the week, helped by the German constitutional court decision on eurozone bailouts, and also by better-than-expected Australian GDP. A number of storms, some of which are still forming, are posing a threat to US gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting concerns that some rigs may be shut down, reducing the amount of supply available. However, prices moved back below the $4 level on Thursday morning as expected temperature declines that will occur as the summer season winds down reduces demand for natural gas.

Going into next week, speeches from US president Barack Obama and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, along with a G7 summit over the weekend, may help to determine risk appetite, as investors continue to debate whether the global economy is truly in for a difficult few months.