Europe markets start steady with Madrid in focus on ECB policy remarks
Ibex 35, the main benchmark for the Spanish market, began the session on Thursday with a small decline of 0.12%, pulling the index to 10,762 points. Investors are closely watching the policy meeting of the European Central Bank as they assess the outlook for rates and monetary stance.
In Madrid, political and economic developments are also on the radar. The prime minister sat down with leaders from the real estate and banking sectors at the Moncloa palace to discuss housing challenges and the latest steps announced by the government. The talks touched on measures such as phasing out the Golden Visa for foreign buyers in exchange for purchasing homes, and guarantees to help young buyers cover part of the upfront costs for property purchases.
In corporate news, Nextil confirmed the opening and start of operations at a new elastic fabric manufacturing plant in Guatemala. The company targets annual sales of 100 million euros, a figure it disclosed to the National Securities Market Commission for regulatory scrutiny and investor clarity.
At the start of trading, the biggest gains within the Ibex 35 were logged by Acciona Energía, up 1.55%, Meliá Hotels International, up 1.52%, Acerinox, up 1.23%, Repsol, up 0.96%, and Banco Sabadell, up 0.56%. On the downside, Rovi fell 1.29%, BBVA dropped 0.67%, and Sacyr declined 0.65% as more distant opponents in the session.
The broader European equity landscape opened with mixed signals. Paris and Milan traded narrowly lower by 0.02% and 0.21%, while Paris and London posted slight gains of 0.09% in their respective sessions.
Oil prices showed a modest retreat at the opening of the trading day. Brent crude, the benchmark for Europe, slipped 0.08% to $90.41 per barrel, while Texas produced crude traded at $86.11, down 0.12% on the session.
On the currencies and debt markets, the euro strengthened to around 1.0729 dollars per euro as the currency pair moved through the session. In Spain’s debt market, the yield on the 10-year government bond rose to 3.263%, reflecting the broader risk sentiment and the market’s ongoing assessment of long term borrowing costs.