Energy intraday

Major Headline:

· Oil futures' recent surge above $110 a barrel in large part reflects investors' scramble for protection against the falling dollar and stock markets.

· This craving for commodities is also leading more players on Wall Street to natural gas markets, where prices are up nearly 30 percent since the start of the year.

· With supply and demand in balance, natural gas prices, which are at their highest level since Hurricane Katrina knocked out key production facilities along theGulfCoast, seem to be moving more on outside factors.

· The run-up is a boon to natural-gas producers such as Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Devon Energy Corp., but it's also forcing many of the nation's households to dig deeper to heat their homes and costing manufacturers more to run their plants.

· Higher prices also are driving up costs for fertilizer, plastics and a wide range of chemicals derived from natural gas. Transportation costs are up, too, due to soaring prices for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel refined from crude.

· While theMidwest and other parts of theU.S. have been hit by cold spells, utilities' inventories of this mostly domestic fuel remain abundant. Current supplies are about 4 percent above the five-year average for this time of year, according to government data.

· But demand is growing.U.S. natural-gas consumption grew 6.4 percent in 2007, and is expected to increase more modestly this year, the Energy Department forecasts.

· To be sure, a harsh winter requiring near-record withdrawals of natural gas from underground storage has played a part in the recent price spike. But what's really driving the flow of money into natural gas, and driving up the price, are an increasing number of "momentum players" flocking to energy commodities in general amid uncertainty in the stock market, said Larry Chorn, chief economist at Platts, the energy research arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

· Average daily trading volume on Nymex in 2007 was nearly 29 percent higher than the year before, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. And the average volume during the first two months of 2008 was 29 percent higher than the 2007 full-year average.

· The most recent jump in natural gas prices is expected to hold for a variety of reasons, including falling imports from Canada and growing demand from the power sector, said Calyon Securities analyst Carin Dehne Kiley.

· Natural gas futures typically were valued at about one-sixth the cost of oil futures during the previous two decades, said Skip Horvath, president and chief executive of the Natural Gas Supply Association. That ratio fluctuates, but based on where oil's now trading "it appears that gas is undervalued," Horvath said.

· Milder weather on the horizon here and inEurope could help ease the pressure on natural gas prices, analysts said, though it may not be enough to halt the demand on Wall Street for energy commodities, said Vince White,Devon's vice president of communications and investor relations.



MCX Crude Oil April

Technical Outlook:

Momentum studies are bullish but are now at overbought levels and will tend to support reversal action if it occurs. The daily stochastics have crossed over up which is a bullish indication. The stochastics indicators are rising from oversold level, which is bullish and should support higher prices. The market's short-term trend is positive as the close remains above the 9-day moving average. The downside closing price reversal on the daily chart is somewhat negative.

Recommendations:

MCX Crude Oil April: Buy at 4365 Target 4420 and 4445 Stop loss 4335

MCX Natural gas April

Technical Outlook:

Momentum studies are bullish but are now at overbought levels and will tend to support reversal action if it occurs. The daily stochastics have crossed over up which is a bullish indication. The stochastics indicators are rising from oversold level, which is bullish and should support higher prices. The market's short-term trend is positive as the close remains above the 9-day moving average. The downside closing price reversal on the daily chart is somewhat negative.

Recommendations:

MCX Natural Gas April: Buy at 403 Target 416 and 419 Stop loss 400.20

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