The Ibex 35 fell 1.4% in the week, very affected by doubts about rates

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By TP

The Ibex 35 and the rest of the European stock markets have fallen sharply this Friday (Ibex: -1.58%, 10,916) Following in the wake of Wall Street, whose indices lost more than 1% yesterday due to statements by members of the Federal Reserve (Fed) cooling expectations of rate cuts and the rises in oil (The Brent barrel has exceeded $90 amid geopolitical tension). Within the Ibex, the cuts at IAG, which has fallen by more than 7% and been suspended due to a volatility auction, and which has finally lost 3%. He is accompanied in the lower part of the selective by Acciona, Solaria, Enagás and Cellnex, among others.

BACK WITH GRIFOLS

Grifols has opened with notable falls that it has been able to correct, although it has finally closed the week with a negative sign. The pharmaceutical company sent a statement tonight to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), at 11:21 p.m., to clarify the notification that was made yesterday at 6:06 p.m. and that, according to the company, has been misinterpreted.
«Based on the erroneous interpretation generated after the publication of Grifols' response to the CNMV requirements, we want to clarify that All of Grifols' debts and financial obligations have already been included and disclosed in the audited financial statements published on March 8, 2024. and endorsed by the regulator», the company has stated. Grifols affirms that, contrary to what is reported by the majority of the media, its debt has not been recalculated upwards to 1,100 million, but rather Those 1,100 million «do not constitute a financial debtsince they are related to the future rentals of the properties of more than 390 plasma donation centers around the world and, therefore, does not represent any new debt«.

KASHKARI FURTHER COOLS EXPECTATIONS FOR RATE CUTS

The last sessions have been marked by the statements by several members of the Fedincluding the president of the organization, Jerome Powell, who has defended that the US central bank has «time» to decide the start date of the cuts and that these will not arrive until there is «greater confidence» about the decline in inflation towards the 2% year-on-year goal. The president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, Neel Kashkari, expressed doubts this Thursday about whether the central bank will cut rates this year if inflation remains persistent. After the sharp falls on Wall Street, Asia also clearly dominated the declines this morning, with larger cuts in the Nikkei, of 2%, as the yen continues its advances. The governor of the Bank of Japan, Kazuo Ueda, has pointed out the possibility of an increase in interest rates in the second half of 2024 by highlighting, in an interview with local media, the possibility that the inflationary impulse will strengthen. After publication, The Japanese currency has reached a two-week high this Friday, touching 150.81 per dollar in Tokyo, as Ueda's comments point to the likelihood that rate differences between the United States and Japan will narrow. In Asia it is also worth noting that The Reserve Bank of India has kept rates unchanged at 6.50% for the sixth consecutive meeting. At the business level, Samsung Electronics today announced that it expects to record a 931% increase in first quarter operating profit., as chip prices recover. According to a preliminary statement, operating profit in the January-March quarter is estimated to have increased to 6.6 trillion Korean won ($4.89 billion), an increase of 931% from a year earlier. The profit in the first quarter of 2023 was 0.64 trillion won.

OIL, EMPLOYMENT…

The oil has finally exceeded $90 a barrel Brent after a week of increases. It is now trading right at $91 ($91.26, +0.67%). West Texas has surpassed $87 (+0.52%, $87.03). Crude oil is trading near its highest since October as rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East drive risk aversion. Israel has increased preparations for possible retaliation from Tehran after Monday's attack on an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that US support for its war in Gaza depends on new steps to protect civilians. For the rest, the most relevant macro data of the day has been the March employment report in the US, which has shown the creation of 303,000 jobs in the world's leading economy. This figure is much higher than the 200,000 expected by consensus and the 275,000 the previous month. In addition to the employment report, today they have published February retail sales in the eurozone.

OTHER MARKETS

Gold remains unstoppable after a week of strong increases in which it has set new all-time highs above $2,300. At closing, it rose 1.46%, to $2,342. Silver added 0.8%, to $27.46. The euro is exchanged at 1.0835 dollars. Bitcoin is trading at $68,000 and Ethereum is trading at $3,320. The yield on the 10-year American bond rises to 4.369%.