Ibex 35 soars 3.29% in the week to 2015 highs amid ECB hangover

September 13 () –

The Ibex 35 has soared this week by 3.29%, closing on Friday at 11,540.20 points, a figure that the index of Spanish stock markets and stock exchanges has not seen since July 2015.

On Friday alone, the index rose by 1.23%, as investors digested the decision of the European Central Bank (ECB) to lower interest rates by 25 basis points and narrow the gap between the deposit facility and other rates.

In addition to the ECB’s decision, investors learned this week that US inflation stood at 2.5% year-on-year in August, which implies a slowdown of four-tenths of a percentage point compared to the previous figure and its lowest figure since February 2021. This could provide clues as to what the US Federal Reserve will decide next week.

On the macroeconomic agenda, it was announced on Friday that industrial production in the Eurozone in July fell by 2.2% year-on-year and by 0.3% compared to the previous month.

In the Spanish corporate sector, CaixaBank has executed 26.69% of its share buybacks in the seven weeks since it began this programme on 31 July, the total amount of which amounts to 500 million euros, according to the information provided by the bank to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) on Friday.

Also in the financial field, he stressed that the Minister of Economy, Trade and Business, Carlos Cuerpo, has insisted again this Friday that “the main concern”, from the beginning, regarding the hostile takeover bid launched by BBVA on Sabadell is “in terms of competition”.

On the other hand, Juan Carlos García Cañizares has resigned as a member of the board of directors of Colonial, effective as of last Wednesday, September 11.

In this record day for the index, almost all stocks closed in positive territory, led by Colonial (+3.22%), Banco Sabadell (+2.60%), Solaria (+2.48%), Merlin (+2.45%), Acerinox (+2.43%) and Grifols (+2.20%).

On the other hand, only five stocks have fallen during the session this Friday: Bankinter (-0.90%), Redeia (-0.75%), Logista (-0.21%), Rovi (-0.14%) and Enagás (-0.09%).

As for the rest of the main European stock indices, performance during the session has been more timid than in Spain. The British FTSE 100 has advanced by 0.39%; the French CAC 40, by 0.41%; the German DAX, by 0.98%; and the Italian FTSE MIB, by 0.34%.

A barrel of Brent crude oil was quoted at $72.52, up 0.79%, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil was quoted at $69.51, up 0.81%.

On the debt market, the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds fell to 2.939% on Friday, from 2.961% on Thursday. The risk premium on German debt has thus fallen by two points to 79.1 basis points.

On the currency market, the euro gained 0.06% against the dollar at the end of the European trading session, reaching a cross rate of 1.1081 dollars per unit of the common currency.

Next week, the German ZEW business confidence index, inflation in the United Kingdom and the Eurozone will be released, as well as monetary policy decisions by the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Norway and the Bank of Japan.