Carbon 'takes a breather'

Carbon arrested three days of heavy falls to close just slightly lower than the previous session.

By 17.30 CET, the 2009 EUA was trading at €14.50, down €0.13 on Wednesday’s close.

Prices hit a low of €14.15 in the morning, although this level appeared to trigger support levels that propelled the contract to a high of €14.58, sources said.

“There seemed to be support from utilities in the morning, although they disappeared in the afternoon,” said a trader.

Another added: “ Fundamentals and technical point to a softer market, but I think we just took a breather today after coming off from a high of €16 just last Monday.”

Oil and German power prices also came under pressure today.

June Brent hit a low of $56/bbl at one stage, down more than $1.25 on last night.

The 2010 German base load power contract closed at €52.10/MWh, down €1.65 on the previous close.

Trade was brisk, with more than 28 million EUAs changing hands across all platforms.

And the spreads between the different EUA years were little changed, with the difference between the 2009 EUA and 2012 EUA closing at €2.30, which was €0.03 higher than Monday.

In the CER market, the 2009 contract closed at €11.85, down €0.10 on yesterday.