IBEX 35 rejected 1.4% on Wednesday, ending at 13,214.0 points, with investors’ eyes focused on the uncertainty generated by the trade war initiated by the United States and awaiting the European Central Bank (ECB) meeting tomorrow.
The Spanish index’s comeback, which was the common denominator in Europe, occurred after it dropped more than 350 points on Tuesday due to the United States’ decision to start imposing tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China.
In fact, the Spanish selective rose almost 2.5% in the morning, recovering almost all the ground lost yesterday, although later the bullish momentum was tempered.
As the details of this session unfolded, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick emphasized the possibility of the United States reaching tariff agreements with Canada and Mexico in the short term.
Furthermore, the uncertainty in Ukraine continues, while U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he received a letter from his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying he is «ready» to resume negotiations to end the conflict after the Russian invasion of February 2022, which includes the «Mineral Agreement.» Despite this fact, it was reported that the U.S. has frozen the provision of information to Ukraine, a key support for the Russian offensive. Following the International Estele, Germany’s future Chancellor, conservative Friedrich Merz, advanced a series of agreements with the Social Democrat to make significant investments in defense and infrastructure, along with a relaxation of fiscal orthodoxy. Within the macroeconomic agenda, it was reported on Wednesday that the eurozone’s private sector activity indicates Spain as having a better performance among those analyzed. On the other side of the Atlantic, it is known that the U.S. service managers’ indexes (PMI) decreased in February to 51 points from the previously recorded 52.9 whole numbers, the smallest progress since November 2023, as revealed. At the same time, the U.S. private sector created 77,000 jobs in February, a figure below the 186,000 new jobs last month, as shown in the report published by ADP on Wednesday. Looking ahead to the ECB meeting tomorrow, experts at Ibraja discovered that the market is expected to see a new 25-basis-point cut in the intervention rate, easing the deposit facility to 2.5%. «The key, as always, will be in the message sent by Lagarde at the subsequent press conference. Particularly interesting because at this meeting, we will learn the update of the European Monetary Authority’s macroeconomic projections table, where we will see what is expected in terms of growth and inflation,» they emphasized. In Spanish affairs, Colonial Council and Société de la France Foncière Lyonnaise (SFL) approved the joint merger project between the two companies. Within the IBEX 35, progress was driven by ArcelorMittal (+10.44%), followed by ACS (+7.11%), Bankinter (+5.79%), Indra (+5.49%), Acerinox (+5.31%), CaixaBank (+5.19%), BBVA (+4.82%), Banco Sabadell (+4.45%), Banco Santander (+4.12%), and Unicaja (+3.63%). On the flip side, Cellnex (-4.47%), Colonial (-3.79%), Telefónica (-2%), Iberdrola (-1.89%), Red Eléctrica (-1.73%), and Merlin Properties (-1.69%) experienced declines. Except for London, which decreased by 0.04%, progress was seen across Europe: Paris added 1.56%; Milan 2.08%, and Frankfurt 3.38%. As the day concluded, the Brent barrel was at $68.56, down 3.5%, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) reached $65.48, a 4.1% decrease. The yield on Spanish 10-year sovereign bonds closed at 3.395 after nearly three tenths, with the risk premium in terms of the German bund at 60.5 points. Regarding currencies, the euro showed a 1.45% increase against the dollar, exchanging at a rate of 1,078 «greenbacks» per euro, the highest since early November last year. Meanwhile, Gold Troy ounce remained stable at $2,920, while Bitcoin increased by 1.9% to $89,000.
