Capricorn makes its fourth ascent, but is left behind in Europe.
European stock markets closed strong, boosted by Nvidia, which is surging today on Wall Street following its results. Ibex, although well behind Europe, recorded its fourth session of gains, adding 0.31% today, helped by reports from Repsol and Telefónica. The Spanish qualifying starts tomorrow with 10,138.90 points.
Buying was strictly imposed on European stock markets after good taste in the mouth left by Nvidia accounts This is despite the Fed’s minutes cementing a cooling in interest rate cut expectations. Wall Street is trading gains, especially the tech-heavy Nasdaq. On a macroeconomic front, average eurozone inflation ended January 2024 at 2.8%, down one-tenth from December, and the EU rate was cut to 3.1% from 3.4% last month.
In Asia, the Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed at 39,098.68 points. new all time record which replaces a law that had been in place for more than 34 years and was fueled by optimism in the semiconductor sector and the prospect of record profits among Japanese firms.
During the day, preliminary readings for February leading PMI indexes activity in the manufacturing and services sectors in the eurozone and the United States. The eurozone manufacturing PMI came in at 46.1, compared with an expected reading of 47, while the services PMI topped the forecast of 48.8, rising to 50, the limit separating expansion and contraction.
Capricorn 35
Ibex, having surpassed 10,000 points on Tuesday and 10,100 yesterday, reached 10,200 points at its intraday high on Wednesday today. However, it ended the session at 10,138.90 points, up 0.31%, well behind the rest of Europe due to the lower technological component of the Spanish selection. The day was celebrated locally with the presentation of the results of three heavyweights such as Repsol, Iberdrola And telephone.
The success of the Spanish selection today is led by Repsol, which rose 5.45% after unveiling a new strategic plan with 4.6 billion in cash dividends until 2027, a 5.4 billion share buyback and an investment of up to 19 billion if the government removes the “tax.” The oil company generated a net profit of 3.168 million euros in 2023, down 25.5% from the previous year, due to lower oil and gas prices.
Result telephone were driven by multi-million dollar provisions – amounting to 3.106 million due to ERE in Spain and accounting adjustments in the United Kingdom – which resulted in the net result for 2023 changing from a profit of 2.369 million euros without extraordinary items to a loss of 2.369 million Euro. 892 million after the application of emergency. Telefonica shares rose 1.60%.
In its turn, Iberdrola announced profits of €4,803 million in 2023, up 10.6% from €4,338.6 million in 2022. This is a record figure in the company’s history and beat forecasts, although investors received a 1.69% decline. Other utilities such as Enagas (-2.33%), Redeya (-0.83%) and Endesa (-0.47%) and renewable energy sources Activate energy (-1.55%) and Solarium (-1.66%).
Highest value by capitalization in the Spanish market, Inditex (+0.56%), entered its seventh session of gains and set a new high above 41 euros per share.
European stock markets rose much stronger than the Spanish index, with some of the major indices reaching all-time highs. The German Dax rose 1.47%; French Cac – 1.27% and Italian Mib – 1.06%. The British Ftse, like Ibex, lagged behind, adding 0.29%.
German Dax boosted by strong growth Mercedes Benz (+4.7%) after earning €14,261 million in 2023 and outperforming other automotive companies such as Volkswagen (+2.4%), BMW (+0.7%), Renault (+1.7%) and Stellantis.(+2.6%). Nvidia’s results pulled other manufacturers, such as Infineon (+2.2%) and STMmicroelectronics (+3.1%).
Debt, oil, gold and bitcoin
Truce in debt market following Fed minutes that curbed rate cut expectations. The US 10-year yield remains above 4.30%. In Europe, German bond yields are close to 2.45%, while Spanish bond yields remain close to 3.35%.
Price Oil consolidates the latest gains: a barrel of Brent exceeds $83. West Texas crude oil, the benchmark in the United States, is trading at $78 a barrel.
Price gold remains at around $2,030 per ounce, and bitcoin He can’t pay back the $52,000.