The fall in the banking sector brought Ibex back to 9900 points

A mixed close on European stock markets in a session that saw investors stunned by a host of references such as the ECB meeting, business results or US GDP. The Ibex index stood out from the decline, falling 0.58% to 9,916.60 points as poor reception of Bankinter’s results dragged down the rest of the banking sector.

European stock markets ended the session with a mixed trend. a day full of important meetings: An unexpected drop in the Ifo confidence index in Germany, better-than-expected US GDP data, a new trickle of business results on both sides of the Atlantic, the debut of the Ibex reporting season and, finally, the agenda, the first meeting of the year of the European Central Bank.

This last link ECB meeting, acquired particular significance after the beginning of the year was marked by a halt in expectations of an imminent rate cut. ECB President Christine Lagarde herself recently pushed back the likely start date for rate cuts to the summer. The ECB confirmed that interest rates will remain unchanged at 4.50%. Lagarde said today it would be “premature” to discuss a possible rate cut and warned of geopolitical risks, particularly those related to the situation in the Red Sea.

Reluctance expressed recently by central banks to stop fighting inflation and begin cutting rates immediately has permeated the market. debt interest So far this year they have clearly made up for it, although today they made some adjustments. The required yield on 10-year US bonds is reduced to 4.15%. In Europe, the German bond yields around 2.30% and the Spanish ten-year bond yields 3.20%.

Funding costs can drive the guidance that companies issue early in earnings season. Much attention is paid in this section Wall Street and, more specifically, the Nasdaq. Yesterday, the stock market rally that saw Netflix get its books boosted stocks overall. Today the opposite is happening with Tesla. As a result of its results, the electric vehicle maker suffers a decline of more than 10%.

Tesla’s brakes aren’t stopping Wall Street from cheering on signs of economic strength, US GDP. The increase, corresponding to the fourth quarter of 2023, reflected a slowdown in quarterly growth to 0.8%. But year-on-year it grew 3.3%, well above the 2% expected by the market.

Capricorn 35

Spanish stock market, among the many references today, was particularly affected by local factors. Investors focused on the first results of the season among Ibex members published by Bankinter. The Ibex index lagged in Europe along with the Milan Stock Exchange index and ended the session down 0.58% at 9,916.60 points.

Banks are once again in the spotlight of investors, twice. On the one hand, because they are among the sectors most sensitive to ECB news. On the other hand, because today we opened the season for the presentation of industry results with the help of Bankinter. The company achieved record profits of $845 million in 2023, up 51% from the previous year. However, according to analysts, their performance remained “below estimates,” hence the fall in Bankinter shares by 6.04%. Other banks also joined the fall: Sabadell (-3.11%), KaishaBank (-2.46%), Santander (-2.64%), Unicaja (-2.16%) and BBVA (-1.65%).

Achievements in the Capricorn sector have been driven by the values ​​of the tourism sector, with growth MAG (+1.51%), Melia (+0.71%), Amadeus (+1.08%) and Ena (+0.80%). It also closed higher Repsol (+0.38%), encouraged by $81 that the price of oil has recovered again.

European stock market

European shares closed with a mixed sign. Germany’s Dax added 0.10% despite an unexpected fall in Germany’s Ifo business confidence index. In January, it fell to 85.2 points, which is lower than 86.3 points in the previous month and even lower than the 86.7 points expected by the market. French Cac rose in price by 0.11%, British Ftse – by 0.03%. The Italian Mib, like the Spanish index, closed down 0.58%.

The technology sector posted less favorable reviews today than yesterday’s session, with reports from Netflix in the US and ASML in Europe adding to optimism. In today’s session, the most important European technology company, which had to re-confirm its results, STMmicroelectronics, got its numbers with a 0.5% drop in the stock market. The chip company also increased downward pressure on other sector securities such as Infineon (-0.7%). The London Stock Exchange recorded two falls as investors were punished for performance. Airline Wizz Air (-4.1%) and investment firm IG Group (-7.6%) experienced a wave of sales of their shares. Among the stocks that have received market approval for their accounts is French Zhivodanwhich grew by 8.3%.

Oil, Euro, Gold and Bitcoin

Companies with greater dependence on commodities are getting a boost from new stimulus announced today by China, as well as a recovery in oil prices. Oil. A barrel of Brent today trades above $81, compared with the $76 at which a West Texas barrel, the benchmark in the United States, is quoted. The extremely cold storm that hit the US has impacted the country’s oil industry and has also significantly reduced weekly crude oil inventories.

After better-than-expected US GDP data strengthens… dollar. He Euro It is moving away from $1.09. lb. The British dollar, which is a week away from the Bank of England meeting, is trading at $1.27.

He gold That leaves about $2,015. In the cryptocurrency market bitcoin It’s nearing lows for the year, and after deflation of up to 20% since its ETF was approved, it’s struggling to regain the $40,000 barrier.