According to the latest available Commitment of Traders (CoT) data, published by the ICE platform for the week ending on 17 May, speculative investors have increased their net short positions (short-term positions – long-term positions), reversing a downtrend trend that began since early April.

The CoT report has been published each Wednesday by the ICE since 2018,  reflecting the positions held on the previous Friday by financial institutions and operators with Obligations Under Directive 2003/87/EC. The document is seen as an analytical tool for traders providing valuable information on the market sentiment.

Weekly positions held by investors indicate market participants where they believe the carbon price will go. Net long means that speculators are buying more than they are selling. Conversely, net short suggests that investors are selling more than they are buying. Therefore, net short positions are associated with bearish bets.

According to the latest CoT, investment funds were net short by 14 million EUAs, compared with a net short position of 11,4 million EUAs the prior week. This is the first time since early April when investment funds increased their bearish bets. The absolute record of 41, 95 mil EUAs was reached in the week ending December 8th.