Natural-gas prices ticked higher Monday as traders looked ahead to a last bout of cold weather. Futures for May delivery settled up 0.5 cent, or 0.2%, at $2.644 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures fell to a seven-week low Friday as market participants expected the onset of spring to reduce demand for the heating fuel. Although spring has officially begun, some below-normal weather is still expected in the eastern U.S. in the next two weeks. Natural gas consumption rises when temperatures drop, as consumers turn up gas-powered indoor heating and power generators burn more natural gas to meeting electric-heating demand. “There’s still a bit of weather-based demand in this market,” said Aaron Calder, analyst at Gelber & Associates, in a note. However, robust production is expected to keep a lid on price gains this spring, analysts say. U.S. natural-gas […]