Natural gas futures tumbled 2.2% Tuesday as warming temperatures cooled expectations of continued gas-fired heating demand. Gas futures for May delivery fell 9.5 cents to $4.2760 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its third straight losing session and fourth out of the past five. The market opened lower but continued the slide throughout the morning. The decline took gas prices to their lowest level since March 24 and 30% below their peak during the depths of winter in mid-February. Some traders had been holding on to bullish positions in the hope that colder-than-normal temperatures across the country would continue. But the most recent forecasts show a warm blast over much of the U.S. in the next few days, followed by cooler temperatures–but not cold enough to drive outsized demand for gas-fired heating. “Without the promise of further extreme weather, traders are […]