Ibex 35 puts 11,900 people at risk due to punishment of Banco Santander and Acerinox
The IBEX 35 index fell 0.26% to 11,875.50 points on Tuesday morning, driven by a 3.65% fall in Banco Santander shares. Acerinox shares fell 3.6%. The top gainers are Mapfre and ACS with growth of 1.25% and 0.59% respectively.
The Madrid selective price comes after yesterday’s bullish day on Monday, which saw it rise above 11,900 points six days later. The index is again within touching distance of the 12,000-point ceiling it has hit several times over the past month and which represents a level not reached since 2010.
This Tuesday marks quarterly earnings season. First up was Banco Santander, which reported that for the first nine months of 2024 it made a corresponding profit of €9.309 million, up 14% year-on-year, thanks to strong revenue growth across all global businesses and regions as the number customers increased by five million. Income taxes amounted to €4.246 million, an increase of 13%, corresponding to an effective tax rate of 29%.
The business continued to improve profitability and create value for shareholders, with a return on equity (RoTE) of 16.2% and earnings per share (EPS) of €0.57, up 19%.
Based on these reports, Citigroup is raising its target price for Banco Santander to 5.70 euros per share, up from the previous 5.30 euros.
Mapfre also published its results ahead of the opening, ending the first nine months of 2024 with a net profit of €653.5 million, up 38.9% on the same period last year. Adjusted return on equity rose to 12% and equity increased 4.5% to $8.434 million. Premiums grew by 4.6% (+6.1% at constant exchange rates) to over 21,600 million, with growth across all business lines.
The insurer also announced that on November 29 it will pay an interim dividend for the 2024 financial year of €0.065 gross per share on all shares entitled to it. The last trading date on which the shares will trade ex-dividend (last trading date) will be November 26th.
Acerinox made a profit of €48 million in the third quarter of 2024 after taxes and minority shareholders, increasingtotal to 162 million euros in the first nine months of the year, down 53%. EBITDA reached 114 million euros in the third quarter and 350 million in the first nine months. In turn, turnover from January to September reached 4.088 million euros.
Reports from Puig Brands and Ferrovial are also expected after the close of today’s session. The last one announced yesterday second flexible dividend totaling €330 millionwhich its shareholders can receive in cash or in shares held in reserves. The company clarified that the per share amount will be determined based on the number of shares outstanding on the ex-dividend date and will be announced on November 7.
Returning to the financial sector, the accounts of BBVA and Banco Sabadell, banks still involved in the hostile takeover proposal launched at the beginning of May, are expected to become known this Thursday. There’s antitrust news today as Reuters reports from CNMC that antitrust review of BBVA’s Sabadell proposal could be expanded. Meanwhile, Cinco Días continues to claim that BBVA offers CNMC obligations similar to those of CaixaBank and Bankia.
In other news, Berenberg lowers his Grifols target price to €19.40, down from a previous €19.50, and RBC lowers his Enagas target price to €12.50 per share, down from a previous €13.
On the macroeconomic agenda today, investors breakfasted on the German GFK consumer climate index, which shows a value of -18.3 in November. Italy’s trade balance and UK mortgage data will also be released today, while the US will release the usual retail sales, trade balance and house price index data this afternoon.
However, the main events of the week will become known in the coming days: preliminary GDP data for the third quarter will be known on Wednesday; on Thursday, the Personal Consumer Expenditures (PCE) index for September, the inflation measure most closely watched by the Fed; and the October jobs report will be released on Friday.
In anticipation of these numbers, Wall Street futures are pointing to a slightly bullish opening today, although the DOW JONES is slightly behind the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Yesterday, all three indices managed to close with growth. All eyes are on Alphabet’s results, which will be released later today.
Meanwhile in Europe, the DAX is up 0.52% at 19,633.65, the FT-100 is up 0.4% at 8,318.54 and the CAC 40 is up just over half a percent at 7,600.83. points, EURO STOXX 50 adds 0.5%. to 4994.04 points, while the FTSE MIB index added 0.54% to 35209 points.
Asian stock markets saw uneven and volatile prices early this morning as investors brace for three-day earnings reports from Wall Street’s big technology companies. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index managed to close 0.60% higher at 38,882.5 points, while China’s CSI 300 fell more than 1%.
Oil prices were little changed after falling in the previous session after a U.S. plan to buy oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve provided some support, although broader concerns about weaker demand growth going forward weighed on U.S. indexes.
European Brent crude futures rose 0.48% to $71.34 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas crude futures rose 0.50% to $67.72.
In the fixed income sector, the Spanish 10-year yield is 2.98% and the risk premium to Germany is 69.20 points. On the other side of the Atlantic, the US 10-year yield is 4.282%.
The euro rose 0.02% against the dollar, leaving the exchange rate at $1.0813 for each community currency.