The Ibex 35 has closed the session this Wednesday with a 0.57% drop, settling at 12,804 points, in a day marked by significant declines in Inditex and where all banks have recorded increases in their stock prices.
The textile company has reported a record net profit of 5.866 million euros in its fiscal year 2024-2025 (from February 1, 2024, to January 31, 2025), the third under Marta Ortega’s presidency, representing a 9% increase from the previous year. It has also announced a 9% dividend increase, up to 1.68 euros per share.
Although the results are in line with analyst consensus, they have slowed down their growth rate, as they had closed with double-digit increases until this year.
Internationally, amidst geopolitical uncertainty, U.S. President Donald Trump has stated that he will «probably» not raise tariffs to 50% on steel and aluminum from Canada, in response to Ontario’s decision to increase electricity prices by 25% to its neighboring country, a measure that has now been suspended.
On the other hand, the European Union will impose tariffs worth 26 billion euros on a wide range of products from the United States starting April 1 in response to the «unjustified» 25% tariffs implemented by the Trump administration on European steel and aluminum imports.
The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 2.8% year-on-year in February, indicating a two-tenths deceleration from the previous data, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Department of Labor on Wednesday.
In this scenario, BBVA has been the top gainer (+2.71%), followed by Banco Santander (+2.39%), Banco Sabadell (+2.17%), Mapfre (+2.09%), Fluidra (+1.92%), and Sacyr (+1.73%). Conversely, Inditex has dropped by 7.50%, ahead of IAG (-4.20%), Solaria (-2.64%), Enagás (-2.60%), Amadeus (-2.42%), and Aena (-2.21%).
The Ibex 35’s decline was the only one among the major European stock exchanges. London rose by 0.53%; Paris by 0.59%; Frankfurt by 1.56%; and Milan by 1.61%.
The Brent barrel was trading at $70.97, up 2.01%, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $67.74, up 2.25%.
In the bond market, the yield on the Spanish 10-year bond was at 3.496%, down from Tuesday’s 3.525% close, resulting in a risk premium drop to 61.9 basis points.
Regarding currencies, the euro depreciated by 0.13% against the dollar, reaching an exchange rate of 1.0906 dollars per euro.
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