EU carbon trades slightly weaker

EU carbon prices remained rangebound on Thursday amid an auction of allowances by the UK.

The December 2009 carbon contract was trading at €14.09 at 13.00 CET in the cleared broker market, down €0.08 than Wednesday's close but up from this morning's low of €13.77.

"There's hasn't really been much sense of direction in the market today, and I think the UK auction is more likely to have been a consideration rather than energy prices," said one trader.

The UK auctioned 4.2 million spot EUAs today, at a price of €13.83.

Spot allowances usually trade at a €0.30 discount to the December 2009 contract, meaning that the price paid in the auction was on the "high side," the trader said.

"It looks like some in the market were been covering short positions," the trader added.

Crude oil prices continued to rise again following a pause for breath on Wednesday.

Front-month Brent crude traded at $67.41/bbl on the Intercontinental Exchange today, up from Wednesday's close of $65.88.

In the secondary CER market, the December 2009 contract traded at €12.05 on the European Climate Exchange, down €0.08 from the previous settlement.