The IBEX 35 closed with increases of 0.94% to 18,186 points. Bankinter is at the forefront of the increases, adding 2.75%, compared to the 2.48% recorded by Caixabank. Among the falls, Puig Brands lost 0.86%, while Laboratorios Rovi lost 0.63%.
The Madrid selective faced today’s session after falling yesterday, Thursday, with the European stock markets affected by the tensions in the Middle East, although it managed to close above the level of 18,000 points. The index closes the week with a clearly positive balance, since to today’s increases we must add the 1.95% that was recorded until yesterday. On Wednesday, the index closed at an all-time high of 18,197.90 points.
This week has been marked by the quarterly results season, with companies such as Enagás, Repsol, Puig Brands and Naturgy presenting their accounts. However, next week 22 IBEX 35 companies will present their results reports, highlighting Iberdrola, Telefónica and Ferrovial.
On the other hand, on Wednesday the 25th, Banco Santander will celebrate its Investor Day. While waiting for this appointment and after the results presented at the beginning of the month, analysts continue to adjust their assessments of the bank chaired by Ana Botín. Among the latest, the Swiss bank UBS has maintained its ‘buy’ recommendation for Banco Santander shares with a target price of 11.70 euros. More optimistic is Goldman Sachs, which has raised the entity’s target price to 12.60 euros.
In today’s business news, the Board of Directors of Bankinter will submit for approval to the General Shareholders’ Meeting on March 26 the approval of a dividend that will amount to 544.9 million euros.
Of the total dividend corresponding to 2025, only the payment of the complementary dividend remains, which is proposed at 0.15 euros gross and which would be paid on April 2.
Continuing in the financial sector, CaixaBank informed the CNMV that has executed 50.94% of its share repurchase program in the first thirteen weeks since its launch, the maximum amount of which amounts to 500 million euros.
Specifically, the entity has acquired 2,586,015 shares, at a weighted average price of 10.3741 euros per share, for a total amount of more than 26.8 million euros. CaixaBank has acquired more than 24.4 million shares, for an amount of 254.7 million euros.
Furthermore, the bank’s board of directors has agreed to propose to the General Meeting on March 27 the re-election of its current president, Tomás Muniesa, as proprietary director for a period of four years.
Other leading stocks of the day were Acerinox and ArcelorMittal, affected by tariffs and protectionist measures in several countries. According to the newspaper Expansión today, Acerinox and Arcelor warn of investment losses if European steel is not prioritized.
A while before the closing we knew that Indra has announced, following the guidelines of the CNMV, the protocol that will govern the eventual operation with Escribano Mechanical & Engineering (EM&E).
In the Continuous Market, it has been known that Ezentis Group recorded attributed losses of 3.2 million euros last year, practically double that of 2024, when it obtained a negative result of 1.67 million euros, as reported this Friday by the technology group to the CNMV.
In the macroeconomic agenda today, investors knew early on the figures of the Germany producer price indexwhich fell 3% year-on-year in January, after a 2.5% decline in the previous month. In the United Kingdom, the retail sales they rose 4.5%. Throughout the day, the readings of the Manufacturing PMI, Services PMI and Composite PMI from Germany, France, the United Kingdom and the USA. More representative, the Eurozone Composite PMI rose to 51.9 in February from 51.3, beating expectations of 51.5.
It has also been published GDP in the fourth quarter of the US, which grew by 1.4%, well below expectations; although the most anticipated reference was the index of prices of personal consumption expenditure (PCE)which rises to 2.9%, above expectations of 2.8%.
The markets also continue to pay attention to the tensions between the US and Iran. In the latest news on the subject, US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that it must reach an agreement on its nuclear program or “really bad things” will happen. It has set a deadline of 10 to 15 days, prompting a threat from Tehran to retaliate against US bases in the region if an attack occurs.
With a market that has been processing these figures throughout the day, the European stock markets close the session this Friday with the German Dax rising 0.96% at 25,258 points, the French CAC 40 gains 1.39% to 8,515 points, the FTSE 100 in London adds 0.59% at 10,690 points, the FTSE MIB gains a 1.47% to 46,469 points, while the EURO STOXX 50 rose 1.21% to 6,132 points.
Wall Street is quoting increases today for the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, turning around shortly after learning that the US Supreme Court has indicated that the law does not enable Donald Trump to impose his tariff policy. The decision has had the support of 6 of the 9 judges, and leaves the door open for companies to request the return of fees paid in the last year.
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei closed with a fall of 1.12%, to 56,825.70 points, due to uncertainty about the geopolitical tension between the US and Iran and the drag on technological values. In South Korea, the Kospi rose 2.31%, setting new all-time highs. Chinese stock markets remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Regarding fixed income, the reference 10-year Spanish bond offers a yield in the secondary market of 3.151%, which leaves the risk premium with respect to its German counterpart at 41.24 points. On the other side of the pond, the 10-year US bond obtains a yield of 4.091%.
Already in the raw materials market, the oil prices fall, with traders monitoring the escalation of tension between the US and Iran. Thus, Brent, the benchmark in Europe, fell 0.57% to $71.25 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures fell 0.54% to $66.04.
As for gold, the precious metal returns to $5,000, rising 1.09% to $5,050.
The Euro Dollar rises 0.13%, establishing the exchange rate at 1.1786 dollars for each community currency. Reviewing the main cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin rises nearly 2%, to $67,569, while Ethereum adds 1.75% to $1,958.