U.S. natural gas futures are lower but holding in their recent range as the market awaits weekly inventory data from the EIA due at 10:30 a.m. ET.Weather models are still "to the warm side of normal," but traders stay focused on storage, which is 5.7% above the five-year average, Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial says in a note. Analysts in a WSJ survey expect an 81 Bcf injection for last week that would extend the surplus to 6.2%. "Normally we only have about sixweeks left in A/C cooling power demand that traders view as pertinent, so the countdown is working against prices," Kissler adds.Nymex natural gas is down 1% at $3.187/mmBtu. (anthony.harrup@wsj.com)