The IBEX 35 turns around in the mid-session and drops 0.25% to reach 18,076 points. Among the securities that lead the falls, Amadeus fell 2.49%, while Grifols lost 1.47%, followed by banks. Among the increases, ArcelorMittal added 3.26%, and Laboratorios Rovi 3.19%.
The Madrid selective comes from a downward session yesterday, Tuesday, in which it took a break with a cut of 0.40% at the close. It remains a stone’s throw from the all-time highs of 18,195.10 points with which it opened the week.
The most bearish value yesterday was Mapfre, with a decrease of 3%. The insurer, which is preparing to present its results for fiscal year 2025 tomorrow, Thursdayis having a complicated start to 2026, with a cumulative drop in the year of 9.5%.
In the financial sector, the newspaper Expansion publishes today that opportunistic law firms are seeking Banco Santander to raise the offer for Webster Bank, whose purchase was announced last week for 12.2 billion dollars. Meanwhile, the Reuters agency indicates that Santander will adjust the presentation of financial information from the first quarter of 2026.
Also the diary Expansion publishes that Banco Sabadell puts TSB’s technological platform on sale in the City.
In the energy sector, yesterday the executive president of Naturgy, Francisco Reynés, took advantage of his participation in the 23rd Meeting of the energy sector of IESE and Deloitte to ask the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) that in the future circulars in which the regulation and remuneration of gas networks will be established for the period 2027-2032, which must see the light of day this year, «keep in mind that there are gas for a while.”
The Supreme Court forces the Government to pay 51 million to Endesa for maintaining the network but rejects its request for another 47 million, according to media such as The Confidential y The Economist.
The management of ArcelorMittal confirmed this Tuesday the investment for an electric steel plant in Dunkirk (France), without having a date for the start-up of the one in Gijón. In the analyst recommendations, today Jefferies has raised its recommendation on ArcelorMittal to buy, also improving the target price to 62 euros per share, from the previous 44 euros.
Worse news for Unicaja, which sees how Kepler Cheuvreux cuts its advice to ‘hold’, from the previous ‘buy’, with a target price of 2.90 euros per share, compared to the previous 3.10 euros.
Oddo BHF maintains its ‘overweight’ recommendation for Aena and improves its target price to 31.50 euros per share, from the previous 28.90 euros. Grupo Santander maintains its ‘overweight’ recommendation for Inditex and raises its target price to 59.50 euros per share, from the previous 58.40 euros.
In the macroeconomic agenda this Wednesday, with hardly any significant references in Europe, all investors’ attention is focused on the US, where it will be known the long-awaited nonfarm payrolls report which should have been published last Friday, and which was delayed by the partial closure of the Government. Analysts expect the US economy to have generated about 75,000 net jobs and that the unemployment rate has remained stable at 4.4%. Last week, the ADP private sector report showed the creation of just 22,000 jobs, well below expectations.
Wall Street futures point to a mixed opening in this Wednesday’s session after a mixed day yesterday, Tuesday, in which the DOW JONES rose a slight 0.10%, at least enough to set new all-time highs at 50,188.14 points. However, the S&P 500 fell 0.33% while the technology Nasdaq fell 0.59%, with values linked to artificial intelligence once again acting as a drag on the market.
During the Asian day, today The Japan Stock Exchange has remained closed due to the Foundation Day holiday. Without this reference, in China the CSI 300 fell 0.22%, while the Shanghai SSEC gained 0.09%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.2%. Today it has been known that China inflation moderated in January as producer price deflation persistedonce again highlighting the underlying weakness in domestic demand and the key challenge facing policymakers seeking to shore up an uneven economic recovery. For its part, the South Korean Kospi adds 1%.
In commodity markets, oil prices rise, driven by increased risk as uncertainty remains over US-Iran talks, while signs of a shrinking surplus, driven by greater demand support from India, also contribute to the rise. European benchmark Brent oil rose 1.2% to $69.63 per barrel, while US West Texas futures rose 1.4% to $64.86.
The price of gold remains above $5,000, with a rise in its spot variety of 1.36% to $5,094 per ounce, while silver advances 2.94% to $83.62.
Today the euro advances 0.28% against the dollar until leaving the exchange rate at 1.1927 dollars for each single currency.
In fixed income, the Spanish ten-year debt bond offers a return of 3.172%, which leaves the risk premium against Germany at 37.01 points. The US ten-year bond awaits the employment report with a yield of 4.133%.