The latest Commitment of Traders (CoT) report from the ICE platform reveals that, at the end of last week, investment funds expanded their net long positions to 17 million allowances, up from 14.95 million the previous week.

As of last Friday, speculative traders boosted their long positions by 4.3 million allowances, bringing the total to 57.7 million. Meanwhile, funds increased their short positions by 2.23 million allowances to an impressive 40.7 million — the highest level since late May.

The sentiment reflected in ICE’s latest report is backed by trading activity, with EUAs climbing over the last three sessions of the week and ending with a 2% weekly gain.

Speculative investors shifted from a net short (short – long) to a net long (long – short) position in November last year, signaling a more optimistic market outlook. Before that, from August 2023 onward, funds had a stronger preference for selling over buying.