Natural gas inventory data in the United States on Thursday showed a positive reading and came better than market expectations, as natural gas inventories increased by 52 billion cubic meters during the week ending last Friday.

This reading is higher than the expectations that indicated an increase of about 60 billion cubic meters, and the previous reading showed an increase in natural gas inventories by about 111 billion cubic meters in the previous week.

Natural gas contracts are trading down by 2.12% and stabilized at the level of $5.989 per million BTU, and this data will have noticeable implications on natural gas prices in upcoming trades. It is noted that natural gas inventory data is issued weekly by the U.S. Energy Administration and measures the change in natural gas inventories underground in cubic feet during the past week.

Although this indicator is primarily an American indicator, it affects the Canadian dollar due to the large size of the energy sector in Canada, and it strongly affects natural gas prices in the commodity market trades.