Ibex closes the year in positive and saves the 8,500 points

The Ibex closed the last session of this disastrous 2018 with an increase of 0.54%, at 8,539.90 points. This year overall, the Spanish selective droppeed 15% and marks its worst year since 2010, when it lost just over 17%. Within the selective, Ence, ACS and Acerinox have been the best values today while Mapfre has been the worst, with cuts of 1.28%. In the main board we highlight the increases in Abengoa after signing a blockade agreement with creditors, and Pescanova (+ 23%).

"The rebound that began this Friday may have continuity in the next sessions / weeks, but yes, all within a major corrective phase, we are not talking about a change in trend because we do not have a backing figure, nor a sign of weakness from the falls, just a simple rebound, like many of those we have had throughout the year, "warns José María Rodríguez, Bolsamanía expert. Rodríguez recalls that we have come from "very strong falls" both in Europe and on Wall Street and stresses that the levels of volatility are similar to those reached during the important falls at the end of January, beginning of February.

The increases on Monday would be motivated by the latest news related to the trade war between China and the United States. The US president, Donald Trump, has pointed to "great progress" between the two powers.

"I have had a long and very good telephone conversation with President Xi of China," Trump wrote in a message on Twitter. The agreement is progressing "very well". "If it is done, it will be very complete, covering all the issues, areas and points of contention, and great progress is being made!"

However, after the tweet, The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump "may be exaggerating how close the two sides of an agreement are," citing sources "familiar with the state of the negotiations."

These comments by Trump come after Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a truce in their commercial dispute earlier this month and gave themselves 90 days to reach an agreement.

IN EUROPE: BREXIT AND ITALY

In Europe, the year ends with good news related to Italy and with more uncertainty linked to the United Kingdom and Brexit.

In Italy, the Government approved at the last hour of this Saturday the budgets for the year 2019 after the agreement reached with Brussels, which places the deficit target at 2.04% compared to the previous 2.4%. A crisis that has had the entire European Union (EU) in suspense during the last months of this year is 'over'.

As for Brexit, on Sunday, the UK Trade Minister, Liam Fox, acknowledged that there is a 50% chance that the UK's exit from the EU will stop if the British Parliament rejects the divorce agreement reached between the UK and the EU. The Parliament of the United Kingdom will vote on the agreement in the week beginning on January 14.

Finally, remember that the European stock markets close today at mid-session (2:00 pm), like the US (7:00 pm Spanish time), for the New Year's Eve celebrations.