Ibex closes negative despite rally from Banco Popular

The Ibex 35 failed to finish positive on Thursday but did not fall as much as other European markets did. The Spanish index fell 0.22% to 8,669.2 points, but the DAX 30 in Germany lost more than 1%, the FTSE 100 0.7% and the French CAC 40 0.6%.

The protagonist of the day in Spain was Banco Popular, which shot up 13% after announcing the appointment of Emilio Saracho as the new president of the entity, having already been vice-president of US bank JPMorgan Chase. He will take over from Angel Ron, who had lost the trust of the market.

The second highest performer was Banco Sabadell (+4%) after the bank suggested a corporate partnership with Popular. The experience of Saracho as an investment banker has given the market this Thursday as a boost that the Catalan bank could be a possible target.

Repsol was the third highest climber during the session in the Ibex with a 2.3% rise. After rising 4% on Wednesday following the agreement by OPEC nations to cut oil production levels, they have continued to rise according to a new rise in price of the commodity, which annual highs.

On the other side of the board, Amadeus was the worst performer on Thursday with losses of 3%, followed by Grifols with a fall of 2%. Electrical companies also had a bad day at the office with Endesa dropping 1.3% and Iberdrola 1.4%. Telefonica also fell 0.8% and keeps confirming its weakness, closing November with a 15% fall.

In the general stock exchange, the big winner was Codere. The games machine provider and bookmaker rocketed 24% after announcing news that it along with American group Cordish it will invest 2.2 billion euros in Madrid to build the biggest leisure complex in Europe in Madrid. The mega-complex will be named "Live Resort" and is expected to provide the city with a 5 billion euro windfall.

After the historic deal reached by OPEC members on Wednesday, some experts believe that it will put an end to the falling prices of crude. The agreement will come into effect from January 1 2017, according to reports from its meeting in Vienna.

However, before this will happen for absolute certain, OPEC members will have to meet with non-OPEC members and negotiate hiw the further 600,000 barrel-per-day reduction will be met by them. Doubts exist as to whether this will be as easy as some first predicted, particularly with the weight carried by Russia among that group.

In macroeconomic data, the US and China both reported manufacturing data for November, which demonstrated growth in the sector. In addition, the unemployment rate in Italy remained at 11.6%, in line with what was expected from economists. In the eurozone, unemployment was recorded as 9.8%, instead of the 10% predicted.

At a technical level, the Ibex continues the same as previous sessions, remaining within the average boundaries for 200 sessions in the last 15 consecutive days. The near-term target remains 8,756 points, while the lower foundation is at 8,543 points.