There has been no volatility despite the political uncertainty due to a possible resignation of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez
MADRID, 25 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ibex 35 closed this Thursday with a fall of 0.4%, reaching 10,983.7 points, affected by the United States GDP data in the first quarter, which was much worse than expected by the market. , while the results season has continued its progress thanks to Banco Sabadell and Repsol.
The Spanish selective started the day with slight and stable gains despite the political uncertainty due to the announcement by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, that he will reflect in the coming days on his continuity in office.
However, upon knowing the GDP of the United States in the first quarter of the year, the main macroeconomic reference of the week, the Spanish index has decided strongly on losses – as well as the rest of the European markets and Wall Street – until the about to lose the level of 10,900 integers, a level that has finally been recovered by moderating the setbacks in the last hour of negotiation.
Specifically, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States registered an expansion of 0.4% in the first quarter of the year, half of the 0.8% growth in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the first estimate published by the Office of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce.
In annualized figures, the US GDP between January and March grew by 1.6% compared to 3.4% in the previous three months – the market expected growth to be 2.5% -. However, the body in charge of preparing the data remembers that these readings are still incomplete and may be subject to future review.
eToro analyst Bret Kenwell explained in a report that investors “may find a silver lining in the fact that this GDP report could bring the Federal Reserve (Fed) closer to a rate cut, although it would be much better the Fed to cut rates due to lower inflation rather than concerns about the economy.”
That is, investors have seen that the economic slowdown may be more abrupt than expected and, even if it implies an early rate cut, the prospects for business profits could be affected.
In the Spanish ‘macro’ agenda, it has been published that industrial inflation deepened its fall in March to 8.2% and has accumulated 13 months of declines, while from Germany the consumer confidence index (prepared by Gfk) has improved more than expected, although it is still in negative territory.
In the business field, the main protagonist during this Thursday’s session was Banco Sabadell, which has advanced 8.73%, thus leading the selective, after having published its accounts for the first quarter and announcing that it will begin its investment program this Thursday. share buyback.
The Catalan bank obtained a record attributable net profit in the first quarter, of 308 million euros, 50.4% more than in the same period of the previous year. The bank will have to face a payment of 192 million euros this year on account of the special banking tax.
Repsol has also announced its results with a net profit of 969 million euros in the first quarter of the year, which represents a drop of 12.9% compared to the 1,112 million euros it registered in the same period of the previous year. due to the drop in hydrocarbon prices, especially natural gas, the company reported.
Acerinox, on the other hand, recorded a net profit of 53 million euros in the first quarter of the year, which represents a drop of 61%. At the same time, Tubacex closed the first three months of 2024 with a profit of 4.8 million euros, 62.1% less.
Investors have also valued a contract by Urbas in Saudi Arabia to build 600 homes, as well as that Iberdrola has taken another step in its alliance with the Norwegian sovereign fund, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, with the incorporation of 644 megawatts ( MW) additional renewable energy to the agreement that both companies had, which now reaches 2,500 MW.
For their part, they have also reacted positively to Rovi’s announcement that its subsidiary, Rovi Pharma Industrial Services (Rois), has signed an agreement to contribute to the manufacturing of prefilled syringes for a global pharmaceutical company.
In this context, behind Sabadell, the securities with the best performance of the selective have been Rovi (6.41%), Unicaja (2.87%), CaixaBank (1.48%), Acerinox (1.1%), Telefónica (0.78%) and Bankinter (0.52%).
At the opposite extreme, Fluidra (-3.72%), Solaria (-3.6%), Grifols (-3.46%), Acciona (-2.33%), Naturgy (-2.26 %) and Sacyr (-2.13%).
The majority of European markets have opted for losses influenced by Wall Street (whose indices have lost more than 1% since the opening of New York): Paris has subtracted 0.93%; Frankfurt 0.95% and Milan 0.97%. The exception is the London brand, which has risen 0.48%.
At closing time in the Old Continent, oil fell 0.1%, with Brent at $87.93, and WTI losing 0.33%, to $82.54.
The yield on the Spanish bond maturing in ten years closed at 3.426% after adding five basis points, while the risk premium (the differential with the German bond) stood at 80 points.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro appreciated 0.16% against the dollar, reaching an exchange rate of 1.0716 ‘greenbacks’ for each unit of the community currency.
