MADRID, 12 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
At midday this Friday, the Ibex 35 stabilized the opening rebound at 1%, reaching 10,761.9 points, with almost all values in ‘green’ and on a day marked by the publication of the final inflation data for March in Spain and the decision made yesterday by the European Central Bank (ECB) to maintain interest rates at 4.50%.
The Spanish selective is thus trying to put an end to a streak of five consecutive closings in losses, its worst streak since last October, although in the weekly count a cumulative drop of 1.5% is recorded -provisionally-.
At the beginning of the session this Friday, it was announced that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.8% in March compared to the previous month and raised its interannual rate four tenths, to 3.2%, due to the increase in the price of electricity due to the increase in VAT on electricity, fuel and tourist packages, which increased their prices coinciding with the celebration of Holy Week, according to the definitive data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
For its part, the inflationary readings for March have been confirmed in France, which fell to 2.3% year-on-year, and in Germany, which moderated to 2.2%.
It has also been published that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United Kingdom registered an expansion of 0.1% last February compared to the previous month, when it had grown by 0.3%, which encourages expectations of the exit of the recession of the second largest European economy, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Investors will also be awaiting the Ecofin meeting, as well as the start of the earnings season in the United States with the presentation of the accounts of the main investment banks and the publication in that same country of consumer confidence (prepared by the University of Michigan) in April.
In the business field, Telefónica is holding its general meeting of shareholders and one of the proposals that the company will present will be the approval of a long-term incentive plan consisting of the delivery of shares to the group’s directors for a maximum amount of 200 million of euros.
CaixaBank, for its part, has carried out 48.54% of its share buyback in the four weeks since this program began on March 14, the total amount of which amounts to 500 million euros, as reported this Friday to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).
On the other hand, the British hedge fund Rokos Global Macro Master Fund, managed by Rokos Capital Management – founded by billionaire Chris Rokos – has raised a 1.137% stake in Grifols, according to Commission records. National Securities Market (CNMV), where it also appears that Goldman Sachs has entered the capital of the blood derivatives firm with 6.252%.
Cimic, the Australian subsidiary of ACS, has been awarded the extension of a mining contract for BHP for the next six years in Australia for an amount of 1.9 billion Canadian dollars (1.16 billion euros).
Thus, in the middle section of the negotiation, the biggest increases within the Ibex 35 were recorded by Solaria (3.11%), Endesa (2.72%), Acciona (2.6%), Naturgy (2.05% ), Sacyr (1.92%) and Repsol (1.82%), while only BBVA (-0.35%) and Banco Sabadell (-0.61%) appeared on the losses side.
The main European stock markets also bounced intensely at midday this Friday: Frankfurt added 0.74%; Paris 0.77%; Milan 1.03% and London 1.2%.
At the same time, the price of a barrel of Brent quality oil, a reference for the Old Continent, rose 1.05%, to 90.68 dollars, while that of Texas stood at 86.1 dollars, a 1.25% more.
In the foreign exchange market, the price of the euro depreciated 0.65% against the dollar, to 1.0656 ‘greenbacks’, while in the debt market the interest required on the ten-year Spanish bond was at 3.19% after subtracting almost one tenth, with the risk premium (the differential with the German bond) at 81 points.