The IBEX 35 fell 0.68% in the mid-session this Friday, to 17,775 points. The biggest declines are for Acerinox, which plummeted 7.05%, and ArcelorMittal, which fell 3.96%. Mapfre leads the increases, with a rise of 2.12%, while Cellnex advances 2.04%.
The Madrid selective has just accumulated three consecutive days of decline that have distanced it from the historical highs of 18,195.10 points that it conquered last Monday. In this way, it arrives at Friday’s session after having fallen a slight 0.25% so far this week, counting until yesterday’s closing, Thursday.
Yesterday the most penalized value was ArcelorMittal, despite the fact that it had started the session with strong advances. The steel giant continues to be the best value on the Ibex 35 at the start of 2026 with a revaluation of 34.5% in the heat of European plans to protect the region’s steel industry. The worst, at the moment, is Amadeus, with a cumulative drop of 21.3%, which was contributed by the 2.7% drop it suffered yesterday after a recommendation cut by Citi.
Today, steel companies may be affected by the Donald Trump’s plan to reduce some tariffs on steel and aluminum productsaccording to the Financial Times, based on sources close to the matter.
Senior officials at the Commerce Department and the US Trade Representative’s office believe the tariffs are hurting consumers by raising prices on products such as pie pans and cans of food and beverages.
Investors are Also pay attention to Repsol in the face of the panorama that has opened up in Venezuela after the overthrow of Nicolás Maduro by the US a month ago. According to BloombergVenezuela plans to award new exploration and production blocks to Chevron and Repsol, within the framework of the Donald Trump administration’s plan to promote the participation of private capital in the recovery of the country’s energy sector. For its part, Reuters adds that the French would also be included Maurel & Prom.
In the energy sector, the rumors continue about the blackout that affected the entire peninsula almost a year ago. In that sense, Iberdrola has rejected Redeia’s (REE) claim that the management of its solar plant contributed to the blackout on April 28.
In the financial sector, Bankinter analysts have reiterated their ‘buy’ recommendation for Banco Santander and have raised the target price to 12.35 euros per share following the accounts presented by the bank at the beginning of the month. The valuation assumes an upside potential of more than 16% from current levels.
In addition, JB Capital Markets cuts its recommendation on Enagás from ‘buy’ to ‘neutral’, while reducing the target price from 17.50 euros to 15.50 euros per share.
In the Continuous Market, it must be taken into account that the Ordinary General Meeting of HBX Group International has ratified the appointment of James Bilefield as director of the company, as reported to the CNMV.
In addition, PRISA completes its buyback program after acquiring 1 million shares.
On the macroeconomic agenda of the day, investors have learned the data of the Spain CPI right at the opening: The Consumer Price Index (CPI) cut its interannual rate in January by six tenths, to 2,3%its lowest level since last June, due to the drop in fuel prices for personal vehicles and the evolution of electricity prices, according to final data published this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
However, the great reference of the day will be the January CPI, but from the US, which will be known this afternoon in the largest economy in the world. The market consensus expects that in its general reading its interannual rate has moderated to 2.5%, from 2.7% in December. Likewise, the consensus expects that the core CPI will also have moderated its reading to 2.5% in January, from 2.6% in December.
“Following strong U.S. labor market nonfarm job creation data released Wednesday [130.000 empleos nuevos en el mes], Investors’ interest focuses their hopes for future interest rate cuts on inflation moderating its growth.approaching the Federal Reserve’s 2.0% target,” explains Juan J. Fernández-Figares, director of analysis at Link Securities. For this reason, «if the data is the same or worse than expected, we believe that it will not be well received by investors, while, on the contrary, data that is better than expected will be well received by investors.»
At the moment, Wall Street futures point to a downward opening in this Friday’s session after yesterday the major New York indices already registered a strong correction, once again weighed down by concerns about artificial intelligence. The DOW JONES fell 669 points, or 1.34%, and lost the 50,000 point level it had reached this week, while the S&P 500 fell 1.57%. The most penalized was once again technology Nasdaqwith a drop of 2.03%.
During the Asian session, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed with a drop of 1.24% this Friday, reaching 56,927 points. It is the first negative day after the strong advances made by the Japanese indicator since the electoral victory of Sanae Takaichi, which has propelled it to historical highs.
In commodity markets, oil prices They rise, after initial falls, as fears dissipate about a conflict between the United States and Iran that could affect supply. International benchmark Brent oil rises 0.6% to $67.92 per barrel after exceeding $70 just a few days ago. US West Texas oil futures rose 0.55% to $63.19.
Gold rebounds after yesterday’s sharp fall, with a rise of 0.83% in its spot variety to reach $4,961. Silver rises 3.74% to $77.98.
The dollar continues to recover ground against the rest of the main currencies, with the euro falling 0.11% against the greenback until leaving the exchange rate at 1.1858 dollars for each single currency.
In fixed income, the Spanish ten-year debt bond offers a return of 3.151%, which leaves the risk premium against Germany at 37.52 points. On the other side of the Atlantic, the benchmark US ten-year bond pays 4.120% pending US CPI data.