Ibex 35 continues impressive streak and is within reach of 9,500

A good start to the year for the Ibex 35 continued after a gain of 0.81% on Tuesday to finish on 9,494.70. The index hit an intra-day high of 9,552 points, but lost momentum towards the end of the day.

The Ibex made the most of the high opening enjoyed by Wall Street. In its first session of 2017, the US stock exchange was 1% higher, before dropping off slightly. Europe also went back to normality and the FTSE 100 reached historic highs.

Viscofran was the highest riser in the Ibex (4.91%). The packaging manufacturer reaped the benefits of the strength of the dollar in the foreign currency market. In addition, the banking sector was also strong on Tuesday. On Monday Banco Popular closed as the most influential stock on the board, rising 3.27%, and continued that form with a 2.74% rise. Bankia (+4.28%), Sabadell (+3.28%), Caixabank (+3.10%), Santander (+2.42%), BBVA (+1.94%) and Bankinter (+1.91%) also led the gains.

On the other side, Enagas dropped 1.6%, followed by Merlin Properties (-1.58%), DIA (-1.13%) and Inditex (-1%). Red Electrica also dropped 0.82% and Iberdrola 0.7% in another disappointing day for the electrical sector.

It's still impossible to forget the Italian banks however. On Monday the Ftse MiB led the gains in Europe, with UBI Banca the best performer. 2017 is likely to see the bailout of Monte dei Paschi, with reports suggesting it will release 15 billion euros of debt throughout the year, to restore liquidity and improve investor confidence.

A WEEK OF IMPORTANT REFERENCES

Christmas has reached its end already in most countries, but here in Spain the celebrations continue, with the Three Kings Day taking place on Friday. It may be that Spanish markets operate at half pace this week for that reason, despite the fact that the stock exchange is open every day this week.

On Tuesday it was announced that Germany's unemployment rate decreased more than expected in December. As well as that, the manufacturers' PMI index in the UK rose top 56.1 after estimates of 53.4, and its previous level of 53.0.

This Wednesday will see the publication of last month's Federal Reserve meeting minutes, which took place on 13 and 14 December. Following that on Thursday is the release of the European Central Bank minutes.

Returning to the Ibex, from a technical point of view, Bolsamania's analysts believe that it is approaching the upper benchmark of 9,544. According to César Nuez it must reach the lower gap of 2016 in the coming weeks.

In another important event of Tuesday, the markets are looking towards oil once again. Oil has risen more than 2%, reaching an 18-month high, despite taken a small tumble towards the end of the day.