Natural gas closed higher as a cooler afternoon weather update pushed the December contract on one last rally before it expired. The front-month contract settled up 13.1 cents, or 3.2%, at $4.282 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. December futures ended a volatile month on a volatile note. The contract moved by more than 2%, up or down, in all but three of its last 21 sessions. Most trading volume has moved to the January contract. It also settled higher, up 9.9 cents, or 2.3%, at $4.403/mmBtu. The rally picked up in the afternoon as weather updates showed cooler temperatures than previous forecasts. Half of U.S. homes use natural gas for heating, and the market had spent the morning in retreat as traders expected demand to start falling from unseasonably warm weather. “The model message is while it’s warmer (outside of […]