The Ibex 35 settles at 10,600 points at midday with an increase of 0.3% after the improvement of the ZEW index

MADRID, March 19 (EUROPA PRESS) - The Ibex 35 registered an increase of 0.3% at midday this Tuesday, reaching 10,630.1 points, after better than expected data from the ZEW survey in Germany was released. on a day in which the monetary policy meeting of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) begins.

However, it will be on Wednesday when the Fed will rule on possible interest rate cuts. For its part, this morning the Bank of Japan decided at its meeting to raise the short-term reference rate to a range of 0% to 0.1% in what represents the first increase in the country's interest rates since 2007. and the end of the era of negative rates

For its part, the confidence of German investors has improved again in March, according to the indicator of the Leibniz Center for European Economic Research (ZEW, for its acronym in German), which has stood at 31.7 points from 19. 9 of the previous month, its best reading since January 2022, before the invasion of Ukraine, given the prospect of interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).

The same survey for the eurozone has shown a similar result, with a much greater improvement than the market predicted.

In the Spanish business field, Indra's board of directors approved this Monday --- with the market already closed -- the segregation of its space business unit to later integrate its activities into a newly created limited liability company called Indra Espacio and that it will be "fully owned" by the former.

In addition, the Basque group Arteche obtained a record net profit of 12.1 million euros in 2023, which represents an increase of 56.9% compared to the profits of 7.7 million recorded at the end of the previous year, as reported. this Tuesday the company to BME Growth, which will also propose a dividend of 6 million euros.

Europacific Growth Fund, legal owner of Grifols shares, has reduced by almost two million shares the total package of Grifols shares that to date it had lent to third parties, placing the total amount at 11.32 million, valued at 87. 6 million euros, according to the documentation that appears in the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Given this situation, in the middle section of the negotiation, the biggest increases within the Ibex 35 were recorded by Grifols (3.1%), Banco Sabadell (2.1%), Bankinter (1.75%) and Caixabank (1 .73%), while the 'red lanterns' were Acciona Energía (-1.94%), ACS (-1.82%), Acciona (-1.57%) and Solaria (-1.32%).

In essence, while waiting for the Fed's decision - the market expects a new pause in rates at 5.25-5.5% -, the greatest advances were made by banking entities, while energy companies - with high debts - were weighed down.

Most European markets favored gains at midday: Frankfurt added 0.07%; Paris 0.2% and Milan 0.23%, while London dropped 0.2%.

At the same time, the price of a barrel of Brent quality oil, a reference for the Old Continent, fell 0.1%, to 86.8 dollars, while that of Texas stood at 82.75 dollars, a 0.02% more.

In the foreign exchange market, the price of the euro fell 0.23% against the dollar, to 1.0847 'greenbacks', while in the debt market the interest required on the ten-year Spanish bond remained unchanged. variation of 3.24%, with the risk premium (the differential with the German bond) at 79 points.