The Ibex 35 started trading on Thursday with a gain of 0.64%, lifting the index to 10,171.4 points, a level not seen since January 8. The session is shaping up around the release of the European Central Bank’s latest monetary policy minutes and a slate of corporate earnings, fueling investor attention.
Investors are also awaiting January euro area inflation figures and a stream of PMI readings covering manufacturing, composite, and services across France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the euro zone as a whole.
In Spain’s corporate scene, Telefónica informed the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) before the Madrid market opened that it posted 2023 accounting losses of 892 million euros, impacted by the restructuring provisions for Telefónica España and the impairment of goodwill at its United Kingdom subsidiary. Repsol, by contrast, reported a net result of 3,168 million euros for 2023, down 25.5% from 4,251 million euros the year before, while unveiling a new strategic plan for 2024-2027. Iberdrola also reported a net profit of 4,803 million euros in 2023, up 10.7% from the prior year and surpassing last year’s record earnings of 4,339 million euros. These figures highlight sector-wide volatility and the ongoing drive toward efficiency and growth across energy and utilities in Spain.
Meanwhile, Applus+ posted a net profit of 20.2 million euros in 2023, which marks a 58.5% decline from 2022 when the group earned 48.6 million euros. This reflects the challenges facing several industrial groups as they navigate market conditions and project costs in a high-variability environment.
At the start of Thursday’s session, the biggest movement within the Ibex 35 came from Repsol, which rose 4.57%, followed by Indra at 1.78%, Amadeus at 1.47%, and Meliá Hotels at 1.39%. The sole laggard was Enagás, down 0.2%, illustrating a mixed landscape as investors weigh earnings and macro signals.
The major European stock markets opened higher on Thursday, with Frankfurt up 1.21%, Milan and Paris each up 1.02%, and London 0.43% higher, pointing to a broadly positive regional tone as earnings and policy expectations influence sentiment.
In the currency and commodities arena, Brent crude, the European benchmark, edged up 0.42% to 83.38 euros per barrel, while Texas Intermediate traded at around 78.26 euros, up 0.45%. The euro strengthened to about 1.0853 against the U.S. dollar, and the yield on Spain’s 10-year government bond rose to roughly 3.37%, reflecting ongoing concerns about inflation and debt dynamics that shape central bank policy and market expectations.