Yesterday’s session provided the most technical strength for May’24 in a while, and so it was with some disappointment that the market started the day by trading a little lower. Initially there were some efforts to pick the price back up and the price briefly returned to unchanged, however the buying then dried up and a steady decline ensued with assorted traders looking to close out longs and leading the price back towards 22.00. Dropping beneath 22.00 triggered a few more aggressive sell stops and the price quickly slipped to 21.76 though once they were concluded the price was able to stabilise just above the lows on lower volume. The fall had also damaged the nearby spreads and May/Jul’24 had pretty much reversed yesterdays gains with a return to 0.30 points, while Jul?cot’24 followed suit with a slide to 0.02 points. Having formed a base there was some fresh buying / short covering which appeared and took the market back up through the range to 22.20, though it lacked the depth to erase the rest of the losses and so prices narrowed into a range. This band held for the rest of the day, concluding with a May’24 settlement value at 22.19. Overall, the performance was steady despite failing to build upon yesterday’s efforts and leaves the market well set should the longs with to push again as we move into the final day of the quarter. 
May’24 whites initially looked to hold near to overnight levels, however it soon became clear that the necessary support was not present, and prices began to slide. Most recent buying has come from the specs, and so with limited support in place their liquidation sent the market lower at pace, the fall extending to the $640 area before exhibiting any indication that we may try and hold. That was not the end of the damage with additional selling ahead of noon seeing the price down to $634.20, though by now there was some consumer interest emerging while the selling had eased up. Of course, with such a thin environment there can be swings to both directions and so as smaller traders looked to again buy (short cover possibly?) the market returned to the centre of the range and sat near to $645. The earlier losses had led to some sharp falls for the front month spreads and white premiums, and despite bouncing from the lows both remained under some pressure. May/Aug’23 was faring badly with the spread trading to lows at $20.50, while later in the afternoon May/May’24 was valued at around $155, though had fared relatively well considering it slipped to $150 on the morning fall. The afternoon saw a band holding on low volume, though some defensive buying did appear for the close to ensure the best settlement possible with May’24 ending at $645.60, and May/May’24 was back up around $156.50 as a result. 
