The Ibex 35 fell 2% in April and said goodbye to 11,000 points weighed down by large values ​​such as Inditex and BBVA

MADRID, 30 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Ibex 35 recorded a fall of 2.22% this Tuesday, reaching 10,854.4 points, in its worst session since the banking crisis of March 2023, which then took over several regional entities in the United States. , in addition to promoting the absorption of Credit Suisse by UBS.

The day, full of business and macroeconomic references, has been conditioned by the fall of banking: BBVA has collapsed by 6.65%; Banco Santander 3.74% and Caixabank 3.24%.

Furthermore, the main indicator of the Spanish market has closed in April with a fall of 1.99%, which has made it say goodbye to 11,000 integers, a level that it has managed to surpass at specific times of the month, to the point of being at unprecedented highs since 2015.

The markets have traded this month in a context marked by tensions in the Middle East and poor macroeconomic data from the United States in terms of inflation and growth, which have led to a change in perspective in which rate cuts are no longer expected. of the Fed for June – a scenario that does hold for the ECB – but for the end of the year.

Thus, so far this year, the Ibex 35 has accumulated a revaluation of 7.45%.

Returning to the detail of this Tuesday, it stands out that BBVA has acknowledged that it is studying a possible merger with Banco Sabadell and has hired several advisors to analyze the operation, as reported by the bank in a statement sent to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). ). For its part, Banco Sabadell has also acknowledged that it has received the proposal and that it is studying it.

The bank resulting from the merger of BBVA and Banco Sabadell would surpass CaixaBank as the largest bank in Spain, without taking into account foreign businesses, according to balance sheet data from financial entities compiled by Europa Press.

Today, in addition, business results in Spain have continued, with the publication of two large banks: Santander has reported that it obtained an attributable profit of 2,852 million euros in the first quarter of 2024, 11% more in current euros compared to to the same period of the previous year, while CaixaBank closed the first quarter of the year with an attributable net profit of 1,005 million euros, 17.5% more than in the same period last year.

In this way, the large Spanish banks have continued to improve their results in the first quarter of 2024, pulverizing the profits they obtained last year, achieving a joint net profit of 6,676.8 million euros, 17.2% more than in the same period of 2023, according to data collected by Europa Press.

These figures take into account the consolidated results of Bankinter, Sabadell, BBVA, Unicaja, Santander and CaixaBank. All of them have continued to rely on income growth in this first part of the year, especially margins, in the face of high interest rates.

On the other hand, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) has lifted the suspension of trading of Applus shares with effect from 9:00 a.m. this Tuesday.

Regarding the macroeconomic agenda, this Tuesday he highlighted that the eurozone inflation rate stood at 2.4% year-on-year in April, in line with the rise in prices observed in March, according to preliminary data by the community statistical office, Eurostat, while the underlying has moderated less than expected, up to 2.7%.

Along these lines, Renta 4 analysts pointed out this morning that the 2% inflation target sought by central banks will have “potholes” and that it will be difficult to travel “the last mile.”

However, they do not believe that the expectations of a first rate cut, of 25 basis points, by the European Central Bank (ECB) on June 6 will be modified, although from that first cut, the data and the The path taken by the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) will determine the amount of the total decrease in 2024.

For the moment, Renta 4 maintains its expectation of four cuts from the ECB compared to the three expected by the market, while tomorrow the result of the Fed’s monetary policy meeting that began today will be announced.

Likewise, this Tuesday it was published that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the eurozone grew at a rate of 0.3% in the first quarter of 2024, which allowed the region to leave the recession behind, after the contraction of the 0.1% in the last two quarters of 2023, according to preliminary data published this Tuesday by Eurostat.

It has also been known that the Spanish economy grew by 0.7% in the first quarter of the year, the same as in the previous quarter, and accelerated its year-on-year growth by three tenths, up to 2.4%.

For its part, the German economy managed to avoid entering a technical recession in the first quarter of 2024, when the gross domestic product (GDP) of the ‘European locomotive’ grew by 0.2%, after the contraction of 0.5%. % of the last quarter of 2023, whose activity data has been revised downwards from -0.3% by the Federal Statistics Office (Destatis).

In this context, only six Ibex 35 securities closed with gains this Tuesday: Banco Sabadell (3.37%), Grifols (2.32%), Rovi (1.93%), Bankinter (0.65%), Amadeus (0.5%) and Unicaja (0.33%).

On the opposite side, the falls of BBVA (-6.65%), Banco Santander (-3.74%) and Caixabank (-3.24%) stood out.

In the monthly calculation, Banco Sabadell has advanced 23.44%, Naturgy 18% and Caixabank 10.22%. On the other hand, in April Fluidra fell 9.22%, Inditex 8.19%, Ferrovial 7.85% and BBVA 7.84%.

The declines have been the common denominator in Europe, both on the day – although none has equaled Madrid – and in the month of April: Paris has fallen by 2.69% in April; Milan 2.89% and Frankfurt 3.03%. The exception has been London with a monthly increase of 2.54%.

Likewise, the barrel of Brent was trading with an increase of 1% in the month, up to 87.85 dollars – it has reached more than 90 dollars due to the conflict between Israel and Iran -, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell It stood at $81.76, 0.8% less compared to the close of March.

In the debt market, the yield on the Spanish bond maturing in 10 years closed in April at 3.348%, while the risk premium against German debt stood at 76.5 points.

In the foreign exchange market, the euro depreciated 1% in April against the dollar due to the divergence of perspectives between the Fed and the ECB, reaching an exchange rate of 1.068 ‘greenbacks’ for each unit of the community currency.

The Troy ounce of gold advanced 3% in April, around $2,300, although it has reached historical highs above $2,400; On its side, bitcoin falls 15% in the month, reaching $60,300 per unit.