The Ibex 35 stops the falls at midday by 0.5% and holds 11,000 points

MADRID, 2 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

At midday this Tuesday, the Ibex 35 stopped the morning's falls to 0.5%, reaching 11,018.3 points, on a day in which the Madrid selective has returned to stock market activity after the break of the Week Santa and in which the data on unemployment and Social Security affiliation in Spain corresponding to the month of March have been known.

Specifically, the number of unemployed people registered in the offices of public employment services fell by 33,405 people in March compared to the previous month, which represents a decrease of 1.2% in percentage terms, according to data published by the Ministry of Work and Social Economy.

Likewise, Social Security gained an average of 193,585 contributors in March compared to the previous month (0.9%), its second largest increase in this month in the entire historical series, thanks to the boost from the hospitality industry, which added more than 81,000 affiliates. for hiring associated with Holy Week.

On the macroeconomic agenda this Tuesday, it was learned that manufacturing activity in the eurozone deteriorated again in March, when the PMI index recorded its worst reading in three months, with 46.1 points, compared to 46.5 for the month. previous, weighed down by the contraction in Germany and France, the two largest economies in the region, in contrast to the growth observed in Greece, Spain and Italy.

This week investors will also be attentive to the publication of inflation data in Europe - data from Germany in March will be released today - and employment in the United States, a reference that will be published on Friday.

While waiting for these data, "the new unknown lies in when the central banks will begin the season of cuts and what catalysts can make them move their chips sooner than expected," according to Banca March experts.

In the business field, Nacho Abia, until now external director of Grifols, made his debut this Monday, April 1, as the company's new CEO, in a context marked by the crisis unleashed in the company after the attacks by the bearish fund Gotham City Research, which could soon launch a new offensive against the Catalan firm, and for the doubts that it has to clear up before the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

Raimon Grifols and Víctor Grifols Deu, who have transferred their respective responsibilities as chief corporate officer and chief operating officer, respectively, to Nacho Abia from this Monday, April 1, they will remain as advisors to Grifols during a transition period that will end on May 31.

For its part, the Ministry of Finance approved the injection of 500 million euros to the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI) to undertake the acquisition of Telefónica shares, according to a report from the General Intervention of the State Administration ( IGAE).

In addition, Inditex returns to Ukraine after two years of closure as a result of the war with the opening of online commerce starting this Tuesday, April 2, to which will be added tomorrow, Wednesday, the return to activity of around 20 stores of its seven brands (three from Zara) in the kyiv area.

Naturgy holds its general meeting of shareholders this Tuesday, on first call at its headquarters in Madrid, with the approval of a complementary dividend of 0.40 euros per share as the main item on the agenda and with no progress to present on its Geminis project. to split into two listed companies in the group.

In it, the president of Naturgy, Francisco Reynés, has assured that the board of directors supports the command structure currently existing in the company, without the figure of a CEO with whom to distribute executive functions.

Soltec shares, for their part, rebounded at midday with a rise of 5% after plummeting almost 14% at the beginning of the trading session after having to redo its 2023 accounts due to differences with its auditor.

Thus, in the middle section of the negotiation, the largest increases within the Ibex 35 were recorded by Acciona Energía (1.6%), Grifols (0.75%), Repsol (0.7%) and Cellnex (0.68 %), while the 'red lanterns' were Colonial (-2.1%), Indra (-2%) and Amadeus (-1.75%).

On the other hand, Rovi shares, which have risen almost 3% at the opening after receiving approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its drug Risvan as treatment of schizophrenia in adults, they turned to losses with a decline of 0.1% at midday.

Most of the main European stock markets opted for increases at midday: Paris added 0.05%; Milan 0.17% and London 0.25%, while Frankfurt fell 0.2%.

At the same time, the price of a barrel of Brent quality oil, a reference for the Old Continent, rose 1.83%, to 89.02 dollars, while that of Texas stood at 84.4 dollars, a 2 more.

In the foreign exchange market, the price of the euro against the dollar remained stable at 1.0743 'greenbacks', while in the debt market the interest required on the ten-year Spanish bond stood at 3.235% after add eight basis points, with the risk premium (the differential with the German bond) at 84.5 points.