Following the previous week’s bullish sentiment, investment funds maintained broadly stable net long positions in carbon allowances, according to the latest Commitments of Traders (CoT) report released by ICE on Wednesday, signalling a broadly neutral outlook among speculative traders.

Data covering positions as of last Friday showed that speculative investors held net long positions of approximately 37 million carbon allowances, calculated as the difference between their total long and short holdings, indicating that bullish bets continued to outweigh bearish positions in the market.

However, compared with the all-time high of approximately 127 million allowances reached in mid-January, net long exposure has fallen to less than one-third of its peak level, pointing to weaker conviction among speculative investors regarding the prospects for higher carbon prices.

According to market data, total long positions held by investment funds increased by just 51,000 EUAs to 65.8 million allowances, while short positions rose by 84,000 EUAs, bringing total short holdings to 28.7 million allowances.

The limited changes in both long and short positions suggest that speculative investors remain reluctant to make significant adjustments to their exposure, potentially reflecting caution amid ongoing uncertainty over the future EU ETS regulatory framework.