The Ibex 35 distances itself from Europe and falls 0.76% in February, but maintains 10,000 points

The indicator registered a fall of 0.67% this Thursday MADRID, Feb 29. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ibex 35 ended February against Europe by recording a fall of 0.76%, although it managed to barely save the symbolic level of 10,000 points, in a month marked by the change in investors' perspective regarding to monetary policy, which is now delaying the first interest rate cuts to the middle of the year, and the stock market development of Grifols, which this Thursday signed the worst session in its history with a fall of 35% after presenting its accounts , which have not yet been audited.

The main indicator of the Spanish market, which ended the session at 10,001.3 points, has had two faces throughout February: in the first three weeks a downward pressure was installed that took the selective to around 9,850 points per the idea that the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) would not make many or very intense interest rate cuts (the market now expects three cuts starting in the spring).

In that sense, the ECB minutes revealed that in the last meeting, held at the end of January, there was a broad consensus that it is "premature" to discuss rate cuts considering that "the risk of lowering official rates too soon outweighed that of doing it too late.

The tone and concerns were very similar to those expressed by the Fed, whose minutes showed the concern of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) about the risk of relaxing monetary policy too quickly.

Despite this, thanks to the other side that the Ibex has offered in the final part of the month, the selective has managed to recover ground to the point of moderating the losses and thus maintaining the level of 10,000 points.

Macroeconomic data have also been intense: the Spanish CPI has moderated six tenths in February, to 2.8%, due to the light, and underlying inflation falls to 3.4%, and the German CPI has moderated to 2 .5% in February, its lowest level since 2021, while US PCE inflation - one of the Fed's reference measures - in January has moderated to 2.6% and core inflation has fallen to 2. 8%.

Despite this, thanks to the other side that the Ibex has offered in the final part of the month, the selective has managed to recover ground in the last part of February to the point of moderating the losses and maintaining the level of 10,000 points.

Within the wave of business results, Grifols has emerged as the protagonist by sinking 35% this Thursday in the worst session on the Stock Market in its history, placing the share at 7,584 euros, the lowest of March 2012, after having celebrated its meeting with analysts on the day of publication of its annual accounts, which have not yet been audited by KPMG.

This stock market decline, the most pronounced of this Thursday's session, has motivated the Ibex to close trading this Thursday with a decline of 0.67%.

Grifols has assured that the professional firm hopes to complete the audit process before March 8; Furthermore, this same week, the president of the CNMV, Rodrigo Buenaventura, indicated that he had requested new clarifications from Grifols following the accusations made by the bearish fund Gotham, which is why his analysis of the information published by the Spanish listed company was going to be delay a few weeks.

The values ​​with the best monthly evolution in the Ibex 35 have been Rovi (15.61%); Indra (7.29%); Repsol (7.17%); Fluidra (7.16%); Aena (6.64%); Unicaja (6.42%); BBVA (5.88%) and Caixabank (5.46%). On the other hand, the worst performances in February were recorded by Grifols (-25.24%); Acciona Energía (-20.75%); Solaria (-19.53%); Amadeus (-16.42%); Acciona (-13.97%); Naturgy (-12.48%) and Enagás (-11.56%).

Most European markets have concluded the month with considerable advances: Paris has added 3.54%; Frankfurt 4.58% and Milan 5.97%. London, for its part, closed flat (-0.01%).

In other geographies, the Japanese Nikkei has climbed to all-time highs, favored by the weakness of the yen, which has boosted the inflow of foreign capital, and the S

In raw materials markets, Brent crude, the benchmark in Europe, has risen 4% this month, to almost $84 a barrel, affected by supply cuts - mainly carried out by Russia - and WTI Texas rose another 4%, to $78.8 a barrel.

Regarding currencies, the euro lost 0.2% in the month against the dollar, at 1.08 'greenbacks', while the interest on the long-term Spanish bond closed at 3.284%, two tenths compared to the closing of January, and with the risk premium (the differential with the German bond) at 87.5 points.

The troy ounce of gold closes the month at levels similar to January, at $2,040 - although it lost that level in the middle of the month.

Bitcoin recorded a 45% revaluation in February, to $61,000, which is why it is seeing its all-time highs - at the $69,000 it reached in November 2021 - and several analysis houses have ended the 'crypto winter', a period in which it fell to $15,000 due to the bankruptcy of several entities in the sector and the disappearance of other cryptocurrencies.