Natural Gas Rallies 30%, Silver Jumps 13% To $116: What's Moving Markets Monday?

U.S. natural gas prices extended a historic rally Monday, jumping more than 30% as Winter Storm Fern drove heating demand sharply higher and disrupted supply, delivering the largest weekly percentage gain ever for a Nymex front-month contract.

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The Henry Hub front-month contract now trades above $6 per million British thermal units. Just a week ago, prices hovered near $3, marking a roughly 125% surge in four sessions.

Dollar weakness added fuel to a broader commodity breakout. Gold rose 2.2% to $5,100. Silver surged 13% to $116 per ounce — on track for its best one-day surge since September 2008. This gain is also lifting its rolling 12-month gain to 266%, the strongest since 1980.

The greenback remained under pressure as the Japanese yen strengthened sharply, with speculators suspecting currency intervention occurred on Friday, potentially involving the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Outside commodities, U.S. equities continued to grind higher. The S&P 500 now sits less than half a percentage point below record highs.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 each gained 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%. The Russell 2000 lagged, ending flat.

Technology stocks outperformed on Monday. Memory-linked names, including Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ:STX), Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC) and SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) extended gains amid ongoing supply disruptions in the DRAM market.

By contrast, Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) slid 5%, following a 17% plunge on Friday after issuing disappointing guidance.

Mining stocks also pushed higher, supported by rising metal prices. Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (NYSE:FCX) gained 4.6%, while Newmont Corp. (NYSE:NEM) climbed 3.6%.

Monday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro platform:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 0.62% to $637.73.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.50% to $493.37.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 0.64% to $626.73.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) slipped 0.17% to $264.36.
• The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) outperformed, up 1.0%; the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) lagged, down 0.5%.

Russell 1000's Top Gainers (Midday)

Russell 1000's Top Losers (Midday)

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