Ibex 35 down 1.9% for the week in a volatile week due to Catalan uncertainty

The Ibex 35 fell once again on Friday, by 0,29%, to 10,185 points. The index is now down 1.9% for the week, affected by the continued political uncertainty in Catalonia which provoked an exodus of firms in the last few days. Sabadell and Caixabank have taken measures after another day of volatility and fell 1.89% and 0.58% respectively.

The situation that nobody had hoped for has arrived. Many decisions have been taken by companies to change their headquarters from Barcelona. On Monday, the parliamentary session in Catalonia, where it was believed that it would declare independence, has been suspended. However, this is a short term solution and the problem runs deeper.

The Ibex has seen increased volatility this week, after falling 3% one day and rising almost 3% the next day. It has become a ‘minefield’ for investors. Sabadell fell one day by 6% and the next day rose by 6%. Caixabank, much the same.

In fact, Gas Natural (-0.54%) announced just before the close that it approved its change of HQ from Barcelona to Madrid, after Fitch said it and Cellnex (-1%) said they were the two companies most affected by the Catalan crisis.

Sabadell was the worst performer after declining 1.89%, followed by Acciona which was down 1.87% and Tecnicas Reunidas by 1.56%.

There was different luck for the rest of the banks on Friday. Bankinter was mostly flat, while Santander was up 0.14%, BBVA gained 0.5% and Bankia was up 1.42%. Goldman Sachs lowered its target prices for Spanish firms affected by the events in Catalonia.

On the gains side, they were led by Amadeus, after it was up 1.91% while Melia Hotels (+1.53%) and Bankia (+1.42%) were close behind.

Dogi and Service Point were also in the news on Friday, shooting up 7% and 17% respectively, after the former communicated its change of HQ to Madrid from Barcelona, and the latter also announced its exit from the region.

Away from the Ibex and Catalonia there is still life. In fact, on Friday there was an important jobs report from the US for September, which showed a reduction of 33,000, the first time it has been down since 2010. Wall Street opened down off the back of the report.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

José María Rodríguez, technical analyst at Bolsmanía, commented that “it’s not massively important whether we finished Friday with a slight gain or fall because it was Thursday’s session which was really important, when it was up strongly with a high volume of trading”.

According to the expert, “in the end the weekly close leaves us a bit away from the zone of support which corresponds with the lower channel. It makes for conditions which allow the Ibex to continue to rebound in the coming days and weeks.”