The Ibex 35 falls 1.5% and marks new lows of 2018

The Ibex 35 has dropped 1.49% this Thursday, down to 9,487 points, a new low for 2018 and a level that the index did not touch since February 2017. All Europe is trading with heavy losses (over 1.7% in Cac 40 and Dax 30).

Europe is dyed red after this Thursday the Federal Reserve (Fed) President, Jerome Powell, announced the first rate hike of the year on Wednesday and fears for four rate hikes in 2018 disappear. Also, due to worse data in Europe (PMIs and IFO) than expected, and amid speculation that Donald Trump could approve the tariff package (of 60,000 million dollars) to China today.

Only a handful of stocks have closed in green on the Ibex 35, with Cellnex leading the gains by rising 1.02%. They have followed Indra (+ 0.53%) and Viscofan (+ 0.46%).

On the other hand, Arcelormittal has led the falls and lost 3.82% in this session. Banking has been the main burden for the index, especially Santander (-2.09%) and Bankia (-3%), although all banks have closed in red: CaixaBank (-2.3%), Sabadell (-2 , 23%), Bankinter (-2.25%), BBVA (-1.32%). Losses greater than 1.2% in the rest of blue chips: Telefónica (-1.22%), Inditex (-1.36%), Iberdrola (-1.8%).

BUSINESS NEWS

Santander has made headlines on Thursday after the US fund Capital Group declared a 3.021% stake in the bank's capital, until it became the second shareholder.

On BBVA, Deutsche Bank analysts are cautious while waiting for the presidential elections in Mexico on July 1, and reiterate their recommendation to 'maintain'.

Sabadell analysts have anticipated increases for Amadeus of up to 70.3 euros; the company closed with a fall of 2.51%, to 59.9 euros.

In the main board, increases of 24.7% for Pescanova after announcing this Wednesday that Nueva Pescanova registered profits for the first time in 2017.

EUROPE, WALL STREET AND TRUMP

Wall Street closed today with slight declines of 0.2% on average and Europe has fallen on Thursday a lot more despite the fact that Powell himself said that the Fed seeks "the middle ground". "Yellen's cautious approach is still alive," says Ranko Berich, head of analysis at Monex Europe. "The Fed should avoid anything that could affect the financial markets or economic performance," said Berenberg Capital Markets.

And, once the Fed has 'passed', the Bank of England arrives, which has held a rate meeting today and has not announced, as expected, changes (the rates remain at 0.5%). "Today is the day of the Bank of England and, although changes in the policy are not expected, the data of wages and unemployment that was known this Wednesday have changed the calculation on a possible movement of the rates in the United Kingdom in the meeting of May , when we get the next inflation report, by then, the gap between salaries and headline inflation could well have been further reduced and would be an ideal window for the central bank to raise interest rates by another 25 basis points, "said Michael Hewson , director of analysis of CMC Capital Markets in London, in his first-hour report.

As for the rest, technology is still in the spotlight after the Facebook scandal. Mark Zuckerberg has admitted errors and promised more security after the theft of thousands of data. The company faces billion fines. In addition, the European Union (EU) has announced that it is seeking to implement a new fiscal policy designed to impose a tax on income instead of profits. The tax would affect companies with a turnover of more than 750 million dollars and would be 3%; It is primarily aimed at American social media companies, which would include Facebook itself.

Finally, in terms of macro data, the economy of the Euro Zone has slowed down in March and is advancing at the weakest pace since the beginning of 2017. The German IFO in March, on the other hand, falls before the protectionist threat.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

In the opinion of José María Rodríguez, technical analyst of 'Bolsamanía', the falls on Thursday "could be seen coming". "We had many sessions warning that, either we jumped over 9,940 points, or any rise would be a simple rebound within an impeccable corrective phase that had not come to an end," explains the expert. Rodríguez points out that the Ibex continues to be the "weakest among the 'largest' in Europe" and has been the only one that has set new annual minimums.

According to the analyst, the next support is at 9,400-9,420 points, "coinciding with what may be the basis of a potential 'bearish wedge' (of bullish implications)" and below the 9,250 points. As resistance, the 9,811 points.

In Europe, Rodríguez points out that now we must be attentive to the supports that the rest of the indexes present at the February lows. "The drilling of these would be another clear sign of weakness that could lead European stock markets much lower," says the analyst, who adds that the supports are: 11,830 points in the Dax and 6,660 points in the Euro Stoxx Total Return (SX5T).