Telefonica forces the Ibex into break during results season

The Ibex 35 took a break on Wednesday and closed 0.18% lower to find itself at 10,763 points at the close of the day. The index had made a good start to the week with significant gains which carried it to highs not seen since August 2015, an annual boost of 15%. However, the session was the first big day of company results and it did not help the Ibex.

Despite this, the wooden spoon of the day was picked up by Banco Popular. The entity fell 2.14% and is now at 0.68 euros. Telefonica fell by 1.33% and was the main factor in the index finishing in red.

Iberdrola fell 1.24%, the third worst performing stock. The company announced a profit of 828 million euros, a figure almost 5% less than the year before. Investors were not pleased with losses of more than 1% for the likes of Endesa (-1.14%), Gas Natural (-1.17%) and Ferrovial (-1.19%).

On the gains side, Aena’s results did please investors, and it was the best performer on the day after a gain of 2.84%. It was accompanied by Tecnicas Reunidas, which was 1.37% higher, and Bankia by 1.35%.

Banco Santander also reported its results. Ana Botin’s bank had been quoting losses all day before finishing 0.17% higher. The bank earned 1.9bn euros in the quarter, 14% higher.

Abertis also reported results, earning 130 million euros, 66.2% less. Despite that, it gained 0.44% to 16 euros.

OTHER MARKETS

Europe’s most important markets closed higher. The CAC 40 in France gained 0.19%, the DAX 30 in Germany rose 0.05%. London’s FTSE 100 was 0.18% higher.

However, Wall Street, with averages of 0.1% gains, remains the focus. Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin confirmed a plan to reduce corporate tax to 15% from 35%. Without going into more details, he pointed out that there would be further news this evening.

Crude inventories in the US fell to 3.6 million barrels, leading to oil prices quoting a mixed bag. West Texas gained 0.56% and Brent saw falls of 0.06%. Repsol rose 0.27% in the Ibex 35.

In the foreign exchange market, the euro fell again against the dollar by 0.5%. As such, the common currency is now worth $1.0871.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

Bolsamanía analyst José María Rodríguez said that it was a second consolidation session in as many days after strong gains on Monday.

“It doesn’t even have to be said that tomorrow we don’t know how things will react, but whatever happens it is irrelevant.”

“In fact to be able to say that the Ibex has given us a sign of weakness, it should close at Monday’s higher gap of 10,377 points, something that I believe is very unlikely.”