Natural gas turns lower after EIA supply data ( NGX12 ) (by Myra P. Saefong)

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Natural-gas futures turned lower Thursday after the Energy Information Administration reported that inventories of the commodity rose slightly more than expected, by 77 billion cubic feet for the week ended Sept. 28. Analysts polled by Platts expected the report to show a climb of between 70 billion cubic feet and 74 billion. Total stocks now stand at 3.653 trillion cubic feet, up 272 billion cubic feet from the year-ago level and 281 billion cubic feet above the five-year average, the government said. November natural gas (ngx12) was down 1 cent, or 0.2%, at $3.39 per million British thermal units. It was trading around $3.42 shortly before the data.