European stock markets are trading flat in the last session of a week marked by meetings of the central banks of the United States and United Kingdom. In Spain, Ibex remains close to its highest closing level, 9,340, bringing the possibility of a positive year-end closer.
- 11.570,500
- -0,41%
Europe seems to have welcomed the latest decisions of central banks, where there have been no surprises in terms of interest rates. The US lived up on Wednesday, raising rates by 25 basis points to the range of 0.5-0.75%, while the UK decided to keep them stable on Thursday.
In Madrid, Grifols rose 6.72% after announcing the purchase of the diagnosis unit of Hologic for more than 1,750 million euros. In this session, the shares of the pharmaceutical company traded without major changes, at 18.26 euros.
Spanish banks thanked the increases in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve (Fed). The most outstanding was Bankia (6.19%), followed by BBVA (2.57%) and Caixabank (2.46%). The sector is already focusing on what the European Central Bank (ECB) will do, from which it hopes to ease its balance sheets out of negative interest rates. Net interest income, one of the main sources of income for banks, remains under pressure, and this latest rise sends a signal of what they demand from central banks.
