The Ibex (+ 0.2%) closes with slight increases after struggling with the ECB message

The Ibex closed with a small rise of 0.23% on Thursday after giving up almost all the advanced terrain in a morning that came to approach the 9,200 points. The turning point for the Spanish selective has been the announcement mid-session of the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, who has confirmed that there will be no changes in their monetary policy, at least until March.

The most outstanding value of the session was Mediaset España, which closed with an important increase of 5.8%, after giving details about its plan to give back to the shareholder, with a repurchase of shares worth 200 million. It was followed by CIE Automotive (2.7%) and Repsol (1.9%).

The main loser of the decision to delay the rate hike has been the banking sector, which after having led the selective increases on Wednesday, stood today as its main burden, with Sabadell (-2%) and CaixaBank (-1, 8%) as the most bearish values. Bankia (-1.4%), Santander (-0.4%) and BBVA (-0.4%) were also among the values ​​that lost most in the session.

Bankinter has been the exception in the sector, rising by 1.4% and closing among the best index titles after publishing its results (the entity has met its 2018 targets).

In addition, IAG also took center stage after announcing that it will not bid for Norwegian and that it will sell its 3.93% stake. The shares of the Norwegian airline have plummeted by 20%.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

"In the middle of the session, after the meeting of the ECB, the Ibex entered the red field after it had approached the important resistance zone of 9,260 points, the highs of November and December. Banco Santander also turned to the downside after attacking (for the moment without success) the significant resistance of 4.40-4.45 euros, "explains Bolsamanía's technical analyst, José María Rodríguez.

"What means that now we do have the Ibex and many of the heavyweights at the doors of very important resistance, and tomorrow we will be watching the weekly candle close, especially because of the possibility that it could close above the 9,265 points. The European indexes are also in a position to continue the rebound, provided that the short-term supports that Dax and Euro Stoxx 50 futures have at 11,000 and 3,080 points respectively are respected. " adds Rodriguez.

THE ECB MAINTAINS RATES

The day was marked by the ECB's first monetary policy decision after its asset purchase program ended in December. As expected by the market, at its meeting in January there have been no changes in interest rates, which has meant that the European stock markets have minimized their increases, although more moderately than the Ibex. The CAC rose by 0.6%, the DAX by 0.4% and the FTSE 100 by 0.23% at the close.

All this after Wall Street ended the last session with slight increases and that in Asia the movements have also been moderate.

In addition, investors have been and will remain very aware, on a geopolitical level, of what is happening in Venezuela, with the 'self-proclamation' of Juan Guaidó as president of the country. The latest data speak of 16 dead and 218 injured by the riots there. The market seems to have welcomed the challenge of the opposition leader, both the bond and the stock market. Venezuelan sovereign debt is attracting investors, who have jumped to buy bonds in anticipation of the fall of the Nicolás Maduro regime. The Index of the Stock Exchange of Caracas rose in the past session 3% after falling more than 2% on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Regarding the macro data of the day, the composite PMI of the Euro Zone, prepared by the consultancy Markit, fell from 51.1 in December to 50.7 in January, its lowest level since July 2013.