Natural gas retreated from a brief spike and ended the day by falling further as a record glut continues to weigh down prices even as it shows signs of shrinking. Inventories are 63% higher than they were at this time a year ago and 52% higher than the five-year average, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said Tuesday in its weekly inventory update. It did show a slight decline at a time of year when stockpiles often grow, but analysts said the decline wasn’t enough to suggest prices should go higher. Natural-gas futures for May delivery settled down 6.6 cents, or 3.2%, at $1.97 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It is the fourth time in a little more than two weeks that gas prices have retreated after hitting $2/mmBtu. Prices did briefly halve earlier losses after the EIA’s update. It said gas stockpiles fell […]