Main European stock markets close with gains

MADRID, Spain.— The main European markets closed this Wednesday in positive territory, highlighting the advance of the IBEX35, the main indicator of the Madrid Stock Exchange, which ended with a rise of 0.79%.

The Spanish stock market rises 0.79%

The Spanish stock market rose 0.79% this Wednesday and approached 10,200 points, driven by the rise of Wall Street, European markets and large values, following the Federal Reserve (US central bank) spoke of an upcoming rate cut .

According to market data, the national market benchmark index, the IBEX 35, gained 80.1 points, up to 10,197.2. In the year it accumulates an increase of 0.94%.

Among the large listed companies, only Repsol fell, 0.03%, while BBVA rose 1.83%; Banco Santander, 1.09%; Inditex, 0.74%; Iberdrola, 0.56%; and Telefónica, 0.18%.

The Spanish stock market spent most of the day above 10,200 points, but abandoned that position at the end of the day.

Milan rises 0.66%

The Milan Stock Exchange closed higher and its selective index FTSE MIB gained 0.66%, reaching 33,363.84 points, optimistically receiving the predictions of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) of a rate cut this year.

For its part, the general FTSE Italia All-Share index advanced 0.67% and reached 35,496.91 integers.

During the session, 889 million shares changed hands for a value of 2,957 million euros.

This Thursday, the European Central Bank will give more clues regarding how monetary policy in Europe will develop in the coming months.

The most benefited following this Wednesday’s session were the Finecobank bank (1.53%), the water pump manufacturer Interpump (1.52%), the transmission systems company Terna (1.41%), the Intesa Sanpaolo bank (1.39%). and the technology company Prysmian (1.36%).

On the other side of the scale, the tire manufacturer Pirelli (-3.48%), the industrial company Saipem (-2.22%), the luxury firm Bruno Cucinelli (-0.97%), the telecommunications company TIM (-0.54%) and the Banca Mediolanum (-0.30%), among others.

The London Stock Exchange rises 0.43%

The London Stock Exchange rose 0.43% following the British Government announced a tax cut when presenting the general state budget for the 2024-25 financial year.

London’s main index, the FTSE-100, added 33.15 points to 7,679.31 points, while the secondary index, the FTSE-250, increased 1.05% to 19,473.22 units.

The conservative Executive presented to Parliament the last budget before the general elections, scheduled for the second half of the year, which included a reduction in the contribution to workers’ social security and an increase in the threshold for the payment of VAT in companies .

The medical technology company Convatec Group led the gains in the FTSE-100, which groups the first hundred companies listed on the Stock Exchange, with an advance of 6.10%, while its rival Smith & Nephew rose 2.72%.

The Spanish-British airline group IAG rose 4.79% and the mining company Anglo American ended up 3.73% higher.

Among the day’s losers were Hikma Pharmaceutical, which lost 3.03%, precious metals miner Fresnillo, which fell 2.92%, and packaging company Smurfit Kappa Group, which fell 2.52%.

The CAC 40 rises 0.28%

The Paris Stock Exchange closed with moderate increases, and the CAC 40 gained 0.28%, encouraged by the positive opening of Wall Street, which optimistically received a few words from the president of the Fed regarding inflation and the reduction of interest rates.

The Paris stock market, which had spent the first half of the day with an indecisive tone, rose moderately in the second part of the session and the CAC 40 ended at 7,954.74 points, very close to its absolute record of 7,967.

The most notable increases were for Legrand (2.65%), Renault (2.29%) and Alstom (1.76%).

Air Liquide, which rose 0.66%, became the eleventh French group to exceed the symbolic level of 100 billion euros of market capitalization.

On the negative side, Tahles fell 2.58%, while Vivendi fell 1.64% and Pernod Ricard another 1.56%.

DAX 40 up 0.1%

The main index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the DAX 40, rose 0.1% this Wednesday and has recovered 17,700 points thanks to the advance of the chemical Symrise following the presentation of its financial results.

The DAX 40 closed the session at 17,716.71 points, while the TecDAX technology index advanced 0.65% to 3,448.79 points.

During the day, Germany’s Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, confirmed that the country’s exports increased by 6.3% in January compared to the previous month, while imports grew by 3.4%.

For its part, the IFO economic studies institute has revised its growth forecast for the German economy five tenths downward and now estimates that German GDP will grow only 0.2% this year compared to 2023, when it contracted 0.3%. , in line with the Government’s updated forecasts.

On a business level, the day has been marked by the presentation of the results of Symrise (+6.59%) and the postal services company DHL (-6.28%), which have led the gains and losses, respectively.

In the case of the first company, it has announced that its net profit fell by 16.26% in 2023 compared to 2022 to 340 million euros, while its income grew by 2.4% to 4,730 million.

For its part, DHL obtained a net profit of 3,677 million euros in 2023, which represents a decrease of 31.4% compared to 2022, following reducing its income by 13.4% to 81,758 million.

The Governing Council of the ECB announced its decision on interest rates, which is expected to remain at 4.5%, in addition to its revised macroeconomic forecasts.

By company, beyond Symrise, the session on the German stock market has been led by the online store Zalando and the chemical company BASF, which have advanced 3.2 and 2.71%, respectively.

At the opposite extreme, in addition to DHL, were the healthcare services provider Fresenius, which lost 2.38%, and the real estate company Vonovia, which lost 2.2%.

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