© Archyde.com/Andrea Comas
FILE PHOTO: Electronic panels with price data inside the Madrid Stock Exchange
Feb 14 (Archyde.com) – After suffering in the previous session from fears of a rapid monetary tightening due to rising inflation, the Spanish stock market opened the session with a 2.5% cut on Monday, victim of fears of a Russian invasion. from Ukraine.
Concerns regarding a war in Eastern Europe reignited following the United States said on Sunday that Russia might invade Ukraine “at any time” and create a pretext for an attack.
The resurgence of geopolitical risk, which had receded in previous weeks, also contributed to raising the price of oil, which rose to seven-year highs. At the time of the Spanish open, the price of a barrel of Brent crude rose 0.60%.
Beyond international politics, the tone of the markets continued to be dominated by the debate around price increases and the reactions of central banks in this regard.
“(…) the main question that arises is whether, given the rise in inflation, some central banks that have been behind the curve for a long time, will raise rates beyond what the strength of the economy can withstand and , as has happened on other occasions in the past, represent the perfect catalyst for a recession and a fall in the markets, or if, on the contrary, they are capable of combining the normalization of rates and the reduction of their balance sheets with a ‘ soft landing’ of the economy and a return to its inflation targets,” said analysts at the Spanish brokerage firm Renta 4.
At 08:05 GMT on Monday, the selective Spanish stock market Ibex-35 fell 228.30 points, 2.59% -the biggest drop since January 24-, to 8,569.80 points, while the index of large European stocks FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 1.89%.
In the banking sector, Santander lost 4.01%, BBVA fell 3.47%, Caixabank lost 3.90%, Sabadell fell 5.28%, and Bankinter fell 5.35%.
Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica fell 0.91%, Inditex lost 1.59%, Iberdrola lost 1.48%, Cellnex fell 1.49% and the oil company Repsol lost 0.03%.
(Information by Tomás Cobos; edited by Darío Fernández)
