Ibex closes below 9,500 with a weekly fall of 0.5%

Indra (+8.97%) was the main player on the final day of the week, after posting results which were well received by investors. Experts from UBS reiterated their recommendation to "Buy" and raised its target price to 14.50 from 13.50 euros.

Airline company IAG (+4.17%) recorded an increase of 28.8% in its profits for 2016 to 1.952 million, well above the 1,516 million expected. The company also reported that it would propose a dividend of 12.5 cents, as well as passing a share buyback of 500 million euros.

Gamesa (+3%) was the next best performer on Friday having reported its financial results and pleased the market. The company hopes to close its merger with Siemens Wind Power in April and anticipates solid forecasts for 2017.

As well as these three stocks, blue chips Telefonica and Iberdrola gained 0.97% and 0.72% respectively. The telecoms company benefited from its revaluation by HSBC, to 9.60 from 9.20 euros per share.

However, the day was marked in general by losses. Acciona (-2.64%) and Acerinox (-1.83%) were the worst performers on Friday. The banks were once again at fault for much of the losses, especially mid-level banks (Caixabank -1.77%; Sabadell -1.56%; Popular -1.36%). Heavyweights Santander (-1.31%) and BBVA (-1.16%) also performed poorly. Outside the Ibex, Liberbank also posted its results and lost 1.86% during trading.

POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY

Next week brings March and with it comes the end of the results season, as we pass to another season: European elections. 15 March sees the first big ones of the year in Holland. France will follow with its votes on 23 April and 7 May.

Radical parties are causing uproar across the continent and are likely to gain across the board and perhaps even win in some of the elections. In the first case, there is a high likelihood that the anti-European Geert Wilders will gain a mesure of influence in the government in holland. Marine Le Pen's rise in France is also causing alarm bells, but it is not yet clear whether she is capable of winning the election or not.

Lastly, in Spain industrial prices rose 7.5% in spain during January, their highest rise since July 2011. In the US, Wall Street saw moderate losses in the beginning of its session after the Dow Jones hit a tenth consecutive record high on Thursday.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

"In Friday's session it's relevant to point out the good performance of the Ibex 35 in comparison with other European markets. In the end it is not a harsh fall as we closed far from the lows of the day and recovered the short term support of 9,438 points," said José María Rodríguez, analyst at Bolsamanía.

"It seems as if the index is resisting a move away from the control zone of 9,600 and 9,620 points. If we had to point out a particular stock this weekw without doubt it is Telefonica, despite the fact that last week we said that it was heading above its resistance."