Natural-gas futures ticked higher Friday as traders took advantage of prices that had fallen to nearly seven-week lows. Prices for the front-month June contract settled 4.6 cents higher, or 1.1%, to $4.405 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Trading for the July contract has now surpassed trading for June. June options expire Tuesday and the contract expires Wednesday. The July contract rose 4.8 cents, or 1.1%, to $4.405/mmBtu. Many short sellers who had bet prices would drop bought back in to lock in profits, while other traders made bargain buys after two days of losses had dropped the price by 4.2%, analysts and traders said. Options traders were also active, working to limit the price from any big swings on the session before their options expire, said Scott Gettleman, an independent trader in New York. “Nobody wants to get hurt…so […]