The Ibex 35 began the week with a modest dip of 0.12%, landing in second place among the main indices as trading kicked off. With China reopening its borders on Sunday after more than two years of travel restrictions and a wave of gains on Wall Street, the region marks another watershed moment in easing pandemic-era travel rules. Since yesterday, travelers entering China no longer face mandatory quarantine, though a negative Covid-19 test taken within the prior 48 hours remains a requirement for entry. This shift helped the Madrid market start near a psychological milestone around 8,700 points, as investors weigh the potential impact ahead of forthcoming US inflation data that could steer global sentiment and decisions in the near term.
At the opening bell, several names advanced notably. Ferrovial climbed about 1.98%, Grifols rose around 1.23%, Sabadell gained roughly 1.12%, BBVA edged up 0.56%, Bankinter added about 0.47%, and Caixabank posted a smaller advance. On the downside, Endesa slipped around 2.23%, Repsol fell about 2.06%, Iberdrola dropped roughly 0.73%, Amadeus declined around 0.7%, Santander eased near 0.48%, and Telefónica traded lower by about 0.45%.
Across the rest of Europe, the opening session showed modest gains, with most indices up around 0.2%. Frankfurt and London started mixed, while Paris traded largely flat. In commodity markets, Brent crude, the European benchmark, rose about 2.35% to roughly 80 dollars per barrel. In the United States, the Texas crude benchmark climbed around 2.37% to around 75 dollars per barrel. The euro traded near 1.0690 against the US dollar, reflecting the currency’s current strength relative to the greenback. Spain’s risk premium hovered close to 105 basis points, and the yield on the ten-year Spanish government bond stood near 3.314%. These numbers capture a day when investors digest China’s reopening, mixed European earnings, and the looming US inflation release, all of which could influence market directions in the near term. [Attribution: market data sources]