The Ibex rises 0.55% at midday and approaches 10,000 points despite the decline in Mapfre (-5.3%)

MADRID, 14 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ibex 35 registered an advance of 0.55% at midday this Wednesday, which has led it to stand at 9,981.6 points, after learning that the eurozone avoided recession - but not paralysis in the fourth quarter of 2023 - and despite the downward momentum of Mapfre, which was down 5.3% after communicating its results.

Specifically, it has been known that the gross domestic product (GDP) of the eurozone finally avoided entering into a technical recession, which implies two consecutive quarters of decline in activity, after the economy stagnated in the fourth quarter, after the contraction of 0.1% in the previous three months, as confirmed by Eurostat.

In the European Union (EU) as a whole, however, activity registered an increase of 0.1% in the fourth quarter, one tenth more than initially expected, after the 0.1% contraction in the third quarter

The markets are also digesting the words of the vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Luis de Guindos, who has highlighted that the disinflationary process in the eurozone continues and the rise in prices is expected to moderate further throughout the year.

However, he has stressed the need not to get ahead of himself, as it will be some time before having the necessary information to confirm that inflation is sustainably returning to the 2% target.

Still on Europe's 'macro' agenda, it has been published that industrial production in the eurozone in December rose by 1.2% year-on-year when a decline of 4% was expected, while it has advanced by 2.6%. % in monthly rate when a decline of 0.2% was forecast.

On the other hand, the annual inflation rate in the United Kingdom stood at 4% last January, in line with the rise in prices in December 2023, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). .

In this way, the inflation rate in the United Kingdom started 2024 substantially above the rise in prices in other of the largest world economies, after the eurozone began the year at 2.8% and in the United States at 2.8%. 3.1%.

Investors will not have the reference of the Chinese markets this week, since their stock exchanges will remain closed all week for the celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Given this situation, in the middle section of the negotiation, the biggest increases within the Ibex 35 were recorded by Cellnex (2.4%), Banco Santander (1.8%), Fluidra (1.16%) and Solaria (1. .15%), while the 'red' lanterns were Mapfre (-5.3%), Acerinox (-0.68%) and Endesa (-0.44%).

Precisely, Mapfre has presented its 2023 results before the market opens. The insurer obtained an attributable net profit of 692 million euros last year, 7.7% more than in 2022, a result that includes an impairment of 75 million euros in goodwill in the United States. Without this impact, profits would have risen to 767 million euros, 19.4% more than in 2022.

For their part, European stock markets also rose at midday: Frankfurt added 0.22%; Paris 0.4%; Milan 0.5% and London 0.89%.

At the same time, the price of a barrel of Brent quality oil, a reference for the Old Continent, rose 0.4%, to 83.1 dollars, while Texas stood at 78.1 dollars, 0. 3% more.

In the foreign exchange market, the price of the euro against the dollar fell to 1.07 'greenbacks', while in the debt market the interest required on the 10-year Spanish bond fell to 3.298%, with the premium risk at 94 points.

In other markets, bitcoin, the largest and best-known cryptocurrency, advanced 3.6% and stood at $51,500, a level it reached last Monday for the first time since December 2021.