The Ibex 35 lost 0.19% in Wednesday’s session, closing at 14,101.3 points, in a context marked by new episodes of the trade war.
On the commercial front, the increase in tariffs from 25% to 50% on US imports of steel and aluminum came into effect on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump signed the directive doubling the levies on these products yesterday.
However, the United Kingdom has been excluded from the scope of application for the time being, with the country announcing a trade agreement in early May, giving hope to investors for de-escalation.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the United States and China continue: the Chinese government has emphasized that «dialogue and cooperation are the only correct option» to address relations with the United States, while the White House tenant has stated that reaching agreements with his Chinese counterpart is «extremely difficult», ahead of a new phone call between the two leaders that will once again be marked by the tariff showdown between the two powers.
In terms of the macroeconomic agenda, it has been revealed that the growth of private sector activity in the eurozone in May was only marginally above the stagnation level due to the weakening observed in the services sector, according to the composite PMI index, which dropped to 50.2 points from 50.4 the previous month, its worst reading in three months.
On the other hand, private sector activity growth in Spain moderated in May to lows not seen since late 2023 due to the weakening of expansion in the services sector, while the manufacturing sector grew for the first time since January, according to the PMI index.
Later in the afternoon in Europe, it was reported that the US private sector created 77,000 jobs in May, a figure lower than the 60,000 new jobs generated in April and the weakest pace of job creation in US companies since March 2023, as indicated by consulting firm ADP.
In this context, and in anticipation of tomorrow’s meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB), the biggest increase in the Ibex 35 was led by Solaria, which surged almost 13% after presenting its first quarter financial results yesterday, where it reported a net profit of 53.44 million euros, a 127% increase.
Following behind were Grifols (+4.35%), Rovi (+2.97%), Aena (+1.26%), Puig (+1.18%), ArcelorMittal (+1.17%), and Fluidra (+1.11%). On the other hand, the biggest declines were recorded by Indra (-4.03%), Bankinter (-2.06%), Sacyr (-1.96%), Repsol (-1.73%), and CaixaBank (-1.65%).
In the rest of Europe, the main indices diverged from Madrid and closed with gains: Milan slightly appreciated (+0.02%), while London advanced by 0.16%. In the case of Paris, the increase was 0.53%, while Frankfurt rose by 0.77% in the session.
On the other hand, the price of a barrel of Brent quality oil, a reference for the Old Continent, registered a 1.04% decline to $64.94, while Texas crude stood at $62.93, down 0.77%.
In the currency market, the euro’s exchange rate against the dollar was at 1.1424 ‘green bills’, 0.46% higher than the previous day, while in the debt market, the yield on Spanish 10-year bonds remained around 3.116%, with the risk premium over German bonds at 58.5 points.