Natural Gas (Henry Hub) (NATGAS)

A commodity price is the price of a unit of the good: a barrel of oil, a troy ounce of gold, a pound of copper. The unit and the currency decide what the number means, so they stand next to the price. Two grades of one commodity and two markets give different prices, and they cannot be compared directly.

A reference quote shows a benchmark of the world market rather than a trade on a particular venue. You cannot buy at it directly: a private investor reaches commodities through exchange contracts and funds. A contract price differs from the reference price by the cost of storage, transport and waiting until delivery, and contracts with different dates have different prices too.

Supply and demand move the price. Output, inventories, weather, producer decisions and supply disruptions shape supply. The pace of the world economy and the season shape demand. Commodities usually trade in dollars, so a stronger dollar often weighs on the price, and for a buyer in another currency the result also depends on the exchange rate.

Look at the move over several periods and at the range for the year: one day says little about a trend. A reference series does not always carry volume, and its absence does not mean there was no trading.