The Ibex 35 signs its best week since November with an increase of 2.47% and recovers 10,100 points

MADRID, 23 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

This Friday, the Ibex 35 posted its best weekly result since last November with an increase of 2.47%, reaching 10,130.6 points, thus recovering the levels with which it began 2024 after a week marked by the presentation of business results and the publication of the minutes of the latest meetings of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB).

Regarding the weekly evolution of the Stock Market, the XTB executive, Joaquín Robles, commented to Europa Press that, although the rate cuts may be delayed even more than expected, investors have found great support in corporate profits .

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

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

In that sense, the market analysts consulted by Europa Press have noted the change in the market's opinion in recent weeks: from expecting between five and seven interest rate cuts, the consensus now leans between two and four cuts that They would begin around the middle of the year.

All in all, the indices have ended up opting for increases, according to Robles, driven by the better-than-expected results of the American technology company Nvidia, which has become the greatest exponent of Artificial Intelligence and this Friday surpassed a capitalization of 2 trillion dollars, the third largest listed company in the world after Microsoft and Apple.

On the macroeconomic agenda, he highlighted that the rate of deterioration in the activity of the private sector in the eurozone has slowed to its lowest level in the last eight months as a consequence of the recovery observed in the services sector, according to the PMI index of Yes

For its part, the same indicator for the United States has shown that part of its expansionary level gave way in February, which implies breaking with the fastest pace of expansion in seven months recorded in January, after detecting a "cooling" in services and inflationary pressures.

The Spanish business agenda has presented an important series of events: Meliá has led the increases after the Santander bank bought a stake in three of its hotels for 300 million euros: "This represents an injection of liquidity in a year that had to refinance debt maturities for an approximate value of 1,000 million euros," said Robles.

On the other hand, Robles pointed out, Enagás suffered a drop in its profit last year and announced a cut in its dividend to face the investment in hydrogen, while Telefónica's results were conditioned by the provisions of the EREs in Spain. and for the deterioration of the goodwill of its joint venture in the United Kingdom Virgin Media.

In addition, the Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business, Carlos Body, stated this Friday that the Government is studying the details on how to carry out the specific financing of the purchase of up to 10% of Telefónica by the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI).

Back with the energy sector, Repsol has cut its profit by 25.5% in 2023, to 3,168 million euros, although this fact "was offset," according to Robles, by the announcement of the new strategic plan in which included an increase in the dividend and the share repurchase program.

Regarding Iberdrola, it has increased its profit by 10.7% in 2023 and achieved record profits of 4,803 million, but "it did not meet expectations in other variables," Robles argued, which has once again distanced it from maximums.

Given this situation, the stocks with the best weekly performance have been Meliá Hotels (12.6%), Grifols (8.39%), Repsol (7.18%), Telefónica (7.18%), Aena (5.26 %), IAG (4.66%), BBVA (4.59%), Banco Santander (4.4%), Inditex and Caixabank (both with an increase of 3.56%).

On the other hand, the worst weekly performance has been led by renewables, which are more affected by the late prospect of interest rate cuts since they generally have very high financial leverage: Solaria has led the declines (-6 .51%), followed by Acciona Energía (-6.43%), Fluidra (-6.33%), ArcelorMittal (-5.13%) and Acciona (-4.12%).

The European stock markets have made considerable gains during the week: Frankfurt added 1.76%, Paris 2.56% and Milan 3.05%, while London ended practically flat (0.06%).

In other geographies, it is worth highlighting the Japanese Nikkei, which closed yesterday - today it did not operate due to a holiday - at almost 39,100 points, historical highs for the first time since the real estate bubble of 1989 thanks to the weakness of the yen, which has motivated foreign investors to enter this market with force.

The barrel of Brent, the reference in the Old Continent, fell almost 2% in the week, to 81.9 dollars, while the barrel of WTI from Texas fell another 2%, to 76.83 dollars per barrel.

Robles has pointed out in this regard that investors are torn between the prospects of lower demand and greater credibility of the cuts by OPEC and its partners.

The euro strengthens 0.5% in the week against the dollar, to 1.0827 'greenbacks', while the interest on the long-term Spanish bond closed this Friday at 3.246% after subtracting almost six basis points in the week, with the risk premium (the differential with the German bond) at 88.6 points.

Robles (XTB) has pointed out that next week will continue to be dominated by speculation about when the first rate cuts will occur, while, with earnings season coming to an end, 'macro' data - such as Germany's CPI , Spain and the eurozone-, could spark greater volatility.

Along these lines, in the United States the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Indicator (PCE inflation) will also be published, which is data "very followed" by the Federal Reserve (Fed).

Regarding business results, in Spain the publication of the accounts of Acciona Renovables, Fluidra, Colonial, Ferrovial, Naturgy, Indra, Rovi, Amandeus, Endesa, Aena Redeia, Solaria Cellnex, ACS, IAG, Grifols, Acciona, Merlin Properties, Acerinox, Sacyr and Meliá.