Shares of energy companies rose amid extreme volatility in energy prices.
Natural-gas futures rose 46% to $6.27 per million British thermal units, marking the biggest one-day price increase in recorded data going back to 1990.
There were concerns that hyper-inflation could set in in oil-and-natural gas prices, but most traders attributed the spike in natural gas to a technical issue, with the front-month contract set to expire at the end of the session.
"Short sellers may have gotten squeezed out ahead of February expiration," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at foreign-exchange brokerage OANDA Group, in a note to clients. Gains on the gas futures contract that will become the benchmark tomorrow were more modest.
Oil futures, meanwhile, held near seven-year highs, closing just under $87 a barrel in New York as tensions on the Ukrainian border remained high.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-27-22 1628ET
