Natural Gas vs the S&P 500 (UNG): is it outperforming?
Over the past month, UNG has outperformed the S&P 500 by 1.6 points. Here is where that puts it in the market rotation — updated daily.
Where UNG sits on the rotation map
Natural Gas highlighted against the 11 broad S&P 500 sectors. Vertical: 1-month spread vs the S&P 500. Horizontal: the longer, time-shifted window — the methodology explains the math.
UNG vs SPY: head-to-head returns
UNG (natural gas) and SPY (the S&P 500) side by side over every window Zensei tracks. The spread is the difference — positive means UNG won that window.
Data as of 2026-08-28 · computed from daily adjusted closes · how we measure
The read
Natural Gas (UNG) has just turned the corner. Over the longer, time-shifted window it trailed the S&P 500 by 16.0 points, but over the past month it has moved clearly ahead of the market — a 1.6-point edge that puts it in the Emerging quadrant. Ranked by one-month spread, it currently stands #44 of the 115 groups Zensei tracks.
On the shorter tape, UNG's momentum is mixed: the longer intraday trend is still positive, but the recent windows have gone flat. UNG's relative-strength line — its price ratio against the S&P 500 — is trading above its moving averages, the healthiest configuration we track. The longer trend remains healthier than the recent tape suggests — the kind of divergence worth rechecking in a week.
The thing to watch from here is confirmation: emerging groups that hold a positive one-month spread long enough for the longer window to turn are the classic early-rotation entries — the ones that fail fall back quickly.
Natural Gas vs the market — common questions
Is natural gas outperforming the S&P 500?
Right now, yes: over the past month UNG has outperformed the S&P 500 by 1.6 points. This page updates daily, so the answer reflects current market data rather than a dated article.
What is UNG?
UNG is United States Natural Gas Fund, the fund Zensei uses to measure the natural gas group against the S&P 500 benchmark (SPY).
What quadrant is natural gas in right now?
As of the latest daily data, natural gas is in the Emerging quadrant — behind the market over the longer window, but ahead over the past month. The quadrant rules are documented on the Zensei methodology page.
Related sectors
Track natural gas against the whole market
Zensei Edge maps 100+ sectors and themes against the S&P 500 — with the stocks inside each one, rotation history and alerts when leadership changes hands.