Banks push the Ibex up 2%, its biggest rise since April
Biggest daily gain since French elections in April
- Telefonica and Mapfre also contributed to rise
- Spanish index performed much better than the other European markets
- En castellano: Los bancos y Telefónica proyectan al Ibex hacia los 10.400 puntos
The Ibex 35 rebounded with force on Wednesday. The index was up 1.96%, its biggest gain since the French elections in April, and is approaching 10,400 points (10,389.30). Gains from Telefonica (+3%) after an increased target price from Berenberg, as well as rebounds from Sabadell (+6.8%), Mapfre (+5.2%), CaixaBank (+4.2%) and Santander (3.8%) helped the index.
Other stocks were also up, allowing the Ibex to outperform its European neigbours despite ongoing tensions in Catalonia.
Banco Sabadell was the best performer, up 6.8% after a boost from Barclays in which the UK bank said the risks from Catalonia were excessive.
The banking sector in general took the news well, after Sabadell CEO Jaime Guardiola assured that the consolidation of the sector was over.
In other news, Wolgang Schauble resigned from his position as finance minister of Germany after one of the main drivers of austerity said he wa taking up position as president of the parliament.
Mapfre was up 5.2% after it was announced on Monday that its results would be affected by hurricanes and earthquakes on the other side of the Atlantic. Aena was up 1.9% after the initial negative impact of the resignation of its CEO. On the other hand, Viscofan fell 0.52%, Iberdrola by 0.26% and Endesa by 0.21%.
In Spain, Catalonia remains on the agenda. Mariano Rajoy met with Donald Trump on Wednesday, as the government maintains their stance that Sunday’s independence referendum is illegal. The doubt comes from what will happen on Monday, and to what point tensions will rise in the region.
In other news, Donald Trump will reveal further details about his tax reform along with Republicans. It was one of the key promises of Trump during the campaign last year, and the White House said he would give a speech on Wednesday to announce the proposals.
This comes after Janet Yellen’s speech on Tuesday in which she said it would be ‘imprudent’ to maintain the current monetary policy while inflation reaches 2%. The dollar and bond yields rose after her comments.
In the macro data of the day, French consumer confidence remained at 101, lower than the 103 expected. Italian consumer confidence was at 110.4, better than the 108.1 forecast. In the US, durable goods orders beat forecasts, but home sales fell more than expected.