Banco Popular stops the Ibex losing 9,400 points

A day of transition for the Ibex 35, which closed with losses of 0.16% to finish on 9,394.90 points, in a session dominated by British prime minister Theresa May's Brexit speech.

The fall of the British currency has affected above all the Ftse 100, which fell more than 1% and led the losses amongst European markets.

Despite May having clearly said that Britain will leave the single market, she added that whatever deal agreed with the EU will have to be approved by both houses of Parliament, leading to the pound's highest daily gain in its history.

"The reaction of the pound has been strongly high, helped by the reduction in uncertainty surrounding the issue of parliamentary approval in the exit negotiations, by May's optimism and by the close of speculative positions," said IG analyst Daniel Pingarrón.

In Spain the best performer was Banco Popular, which rose 7% after Citi changed its recommendation to Buy, with a target price of 1.30 euros per share. The second best performer was IAG, with a rise of 3.7%, boosted by the rise of the pound. Acciona completed the podium with a gain of 2%

However, the majority of stocks in the index fell. Acerinox fell 1.6% and ArcelorMittal by 1.5%, while Santander lost 0.45%.

On Tuesday was the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The event gathers a large list of economic figures from around the globe, including Chinese president Xi Jinping, who defended the process of globalisation in an opposition to Donald Trump's policies.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

"The Ibex closed practically flat, therefore the session lacked a lot opf implications," said Bolsamania expert José María Rodríguez. "The index keeps displacing itself laterally, and it has been like that since December. It is now between the support of 9,250 and the resistence of 9,550 points.