The latest Commitment of Traders (CoT) report published by ICE shows that investment funds continued to reduce their net long exposure, which fell to 63.2 million allowances, extending the six-month low reached in the previous week.

At the close of last Friday’s trading session, data showed speculative traders expanding their short positions by 3.3 million allowances while trimming long positions by 2.3 million allowances, resulting in an 8% weekly fall in net length, equivalent to 5.6 million allowances.

This means that over the course of six weeks, since mid-January when net long holdings hit a record high of 126 million allowances, investment funds have exactly halved their exposure, signalling a sharp shift in market sentiment and a steady retreat of speculative investors from bullish carbon positions.

Trading data mirrored the sentiment highlighted in ICE’s latest CoT report. The EUA December 2026 contract settled at €70.29 last Friday, down from €73.78 the previous week, marking a 4.73% weekly decline.