The Ibex 35 maintains 11,500 points despite the increase in geopolitical (and nuclear) tension between the US and Russia

Photo of author

By Jack Ferson

Spanish equities are no match for scares. In the morning arose with great tension between values, both for and against tax controversy that was already getting up at dawn in the Congressional Finance Commission with the contradictory agreements of the PSOE, which on the one hand agreed with ERC and Bildu to extend the tax against energy companies signed in contrary line with Junts and PNV, and in the middle, Podemos saying that It was a dead letter that I would not support. We will see the final result on Thursday, but what seems to be declining is the tax increase for SOCIMIs.

In this way, energy and MERLIN Properties shone at the beginning of the session, with banks falling that pointed to a possible maintenance of the great tax, which faded yesterday afternoon. A lack of clarity, which mid-morning after meeting Russia’s response to the decision to give Ukraine long-range missiles that reached Russian soil, became almost generalized falls, while the SOCIMI led by Ismael Clemente.

The general falls for banks and airlines, with the six entities clearly down and IAG (Iberia), exposed the double news that already marks the European markets and also Wall Street: Vladimir Putin reduces the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in the face of a conventional attack, in response to the US decision, while Russia claims that Ukraine has already used US long-range missiles against Russian targets.

An increase in escalation has led the Ibex 35 to almost fall intraday by almost 2% which has been sifted as the US has minimized the downward trend with which it opened in this second stock market session of the week thanks to the increases of NVIDIA, which will publish its results tomorrow at the close.

In this way, at closing, the IBEX 35 lost 0.74% to 11,588.40 points with larger falls for values ​​such as Solaria 7.58%, Caixabank 5.27% and Grifols A 5.05% and revaluations for MERLIN Properties 2.66%, Cellnex 2.03% and Telefónica 1.07%.

Regarding the news of the session, the Strategic Plan that CaixaBank has presented, which with the objective of maintaining sustainable profitability levels above 15% (ROTE) to boost the growth of credit to companies and families, which is expected to grow 4% annually in the next three years. Sustaining this profitability will allow CaixaBank to continue “adequately remunerating” its 558,000 shareholders, including the FROB and the “la Caixa” Foundation, so that it can continue developing its Social Work.

Regarding the shareholder remuneration policy, the new Strategic Plan 2025-2027 includes the commitment to distribute between 50% and 60% of the consolidated net profit in dividends, with an interim dividend each year, and distribute the excess CET1 capital above 12.5%.

And Grifols A clearly expects news with a significant setback in this session, after the Board of Directors, which is meeting now, pointed out that with an alleged offer from the Brookfield fund for the takeover bid of 10.50 euros per share it is clearly insufficient and that , if the offer is made, will not support it.

Solaria is also among the worst of the session based on its results published at the close of yesterday. The photovoltaic company wins 57 million euros in the first nine months of the year, lwhat do you suppose a 34% cut compared to the profit obtained in the same period of the previous year, which amounted to 86.4 million euros. 29.3 million profits that have fallen by the wayside, above all, to the fall reflected in energy prices.

In the rest of Europe, more of the same, with widespread cuts in all areas due to the increase in escalation between the US and Russia, even with a nuclear component.

Of the nine sectors of the pan-European selective, only the minimum health care and uilities are saved from burning, with plummeting falls in cyclical consumer, industrial and financial values, with Novo Nordisk up more than 2.5% and advances for National Grid and for Essilor Luxxotica in the face of value cuts such as Siemens, Unicredit and BNP Paribas.

In this way, at the close of the market the EURO STOXX 50 lost 0.83% to 4,750 points, the CAC 40 closed with falls of 0.67% to 7,229 points, the Daxwith losses of 0.53% to 19,075 points and the London FT 100with cuts of 0.12% to 8,099 points.

Already on Wall Street, the early cuts are minimized and only remain, and nuanced, for the Dow Jones, thanks to the increases it experiences before presenting NVIDIA results. The geopolitical tension is becoming more nuanced and the reflection is seen in all the indicators.

One of the great protagonists of the day is Walmart, which for years was considered a true benchmark of consumption in the US. The company presented its quarterly results today: it earned an adjusted 58 cents per share, above the expected 53 cents. Revenue reached $169.59 billion, compared to the expected $167.72 billion. Increases of 4.3% to its highest year-on-year level of $88.29 per share

And furthermore has improved its forecasts for the year as a whole, now expecting sales to grow between 4.8% and 5.1%compared to the previous range, which was between 3.75% and 4.75%. Shares rise 2.3% at the open.

Without leaving the retail sector, Lowe’s has presented a Earnings of $2.89, adjusted, per share, versus $2.82 expectedwhile revenues amounted to $20.17 billion, also exceeding the expected $19.95 billion. The company has updated its guidance for the year, expecting sales between 83,000 and 83,500 million, compared to the previous figure between 82,700 and 83,200 million. Comparable store sales will be down between 3% and 3.5%, when previously it expected a drop of between 3.5% and 4%. And it fell 3.9% mid-session.

Automation technology company Symbotic soars 27.5% after beating revenue expectations in its fiscal fourth quarter. Revenue rose to $576.8 million in the fourth quarter, well above the $470.2 million figure forecast by Wall Street.

At the end of the day in the Spanish stock market, the DOW JONES Ind Average fell 0.42% to 43,207 points, the S&P 500 rose 0.01% to 5,894 points and the Nasdaq OMX moved with gains of 0. 35% up to 18,860 points.

Already in fixed income, asset returns are falling, with falls of 1.08% in the 10-year Spanish bond to 3.035% while, the German bund places its yield at 2.3295% and drops 1.77%. The risk premium gains positions, 3.80% to 70.95 basis points.

Regarding oil, the the future of the Brent barrel that is trading at 73.04, with cuts of 0.34% and West Texas, which lost 0.35% to $68.97.

Gold rises 0.61% and places its future price per ounce at $2,630.25. Bitcoin, for its part, is trading lower with cuts of 1% to $92,316.8.

And the Euro Dollar moves with cuts of 0.09% to 1.0589 units.

Leave a Comment