Jul 18 () –
The Ibex 35 closed Thursday with a rise of 0.38%, reaching 11,147.5 points, in a day marked by the start of the earnings season in Spain led by Bankinter and the monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB), which kept rates unchanged.
The Spanish index has started the day with a sustained and growing upward trend, driven by stocks such as Bankinter and Telefónica, which has allowed it to surpass the 11,200-point mark with increases of 1%. However, the positive tone has been sharply reduced at the end of the session and it has lost that level due to the contagion from Wall Street, whose indices fell this afternoon.
Going into the details of the day, Bankinter reported on Thursday that it obtained a net profit of 473.5 million euros in the first half of the year, 13.3% more than in the same period last year; consequently, the bank has led the rises in the Spanish benchmark index with a rise of 4.7%.
For its part, the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided to keep interest rates unchanged after the cut carried out last month, so that the reference rate for its refinancing operations will now remain at 4.25%, the deposit rate at 3.75% and the lending facility rate at 4.50%.
The president of the ‘euro guardian’, Christine Lagarde, stressed at the press conference after the meeting the dependence of the data on future decisions of the institution, which will not meet again to discuss the monetary policy of the euro zone until September.
Creand Asset Management’s investment director, Miguel Ángel Rico, said that “the stock markets have reacted very timidly, as it was expected that this meeting would be a formality.”
Market analysts consulted by Europa Press, such as Konstantin Veit (Pimco) or Dave Chappel (Columbia Threadneedle), predict that the ECB will cut rates again at its September meeting, the date on which the market has been eager in recent days to place the first rate cut by its American counterpart, the Federal Reserve (Fed).
The deputy governor of the Bank of Spain, Margarita Delgado, attended this meeting because the Government has not yet announced the person who will succeed Pablo Hernández de Cos, while the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, has stated that “there is no news” in this regard and that negotiations with the Popular Party continue to appoint a successor to the post.
On this point, the Vice President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Luis de Guindos, has expressed his desire for the Bank of Spain to have a new governor for the next meeting of the Governing Council of the institution in September.
The Treasury also awarded a total of 6.447 billion euros in medium- and long-term debt in the last auction of July on Thursday, at lower rates than in previous issues, according to data published by the Bank of Spain.
In this situation, within the Ibex 35, Bankinter has been the main rising value, rising 4.7%, followed by Telefónica (+2.87%), Enagás (+2.83%), Acciona (+2.75%), Unicaja (+1.65%), CaixaBank (+1.42%), BBVA (+1.32%) and Banco Sabadell (+1.17%).
At the other extreme, Fluidra (-5.62%), Amadeus (-1.6%), Rovi (-1.05%), Colonial (-0.93%), Aena (-0.78%) and Repsol (-0.6%) stood out.
Most European markets posted gains during the day: London and Paris each gained 0.21%, while Milan rose 0.43%. Frankfurt was the exception, falling 0.45%.
Brent crude oil was up 0.13% at closing time in Europe, reaching $85.2, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil reached $83, up 0.2%.
In the debt market, the yield on the 10-year Spanish bond closed at 3.206% after gaining two basis points, with the risk premium over the German bond at 77.8 points.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro fell by 0.25% against the dollar, reaching an exchange rate of 1.0912 greenbacks per euro.
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