Natural-gas futures touched their highest level in a week Monday as forecasts for warmer weather suggested an uptick in spring-time demand. Prices for the front-month June contract closed up 5.7 cents, or 1.3%, to $4.47 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In intraday trade, prices had climbed above $4.50/mmBtu for the first time in a week. Updated weather forecasts showed some of the first sustained heat of the year, with warmer-than-normal conditions spreading across most of the country through the next two weeks. Forecasts for early June point to temperatures in the 80s from Houston to Boston. That could lead to gas-fired electricity powering air conditioners three weeks before the official start of summer. It may not be a heat wave, but traders have to factor in the chance of an early summer and how unseasonably high demand could stretch the […]