EIA data reveal a weekly increase in U.S. natural-gas supplies

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday that domestic natural-gas supplies climbed by 26 billion cubic feet for the week ended March 25. That matched the average weekly climb forecast by analysts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights, which pegged the year-ago average increase at 7 billion. Total supplies in storage stand at 1.415 trillion cubic feet, down 347 billion cubic feet from a year ago and 244 billion cubic feet below the five-year average, the government said. Following the data, May natural gas rose 13.2 cents, or 2.4%, at $5.737 per million British thermal units. Prices traded at $5.728 before the supply data.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.