Ibex 35 finished trading on Tuesday with a modest gain of 0.70%, climbing to the 10,000-point mark for the first time since February 17, 2020. The Spanish benchmark had hovered near this level in the preceding three sessions, and today it stood out, pulling away from the rest of Europe’s stock indexes to outperform them. This move underscores renewed investor interest in Spanish equities, particularly when global markets show a quieter macroeconomic backdrop.
One notable driver behind the appetite for stocks has been the recent slide in bond yields, a reflection of expectations that central banks may pause rate hikes that were initiated last year to curb inflation. The yield on the Spanish 10-year government bond closed Tuesday around 3.5 percent, roughly half a percentage point below recent highs. In the United States, Treasury yields traded below 4.4 percent, while German Bunds softened by about 2.5 percent. The shift in fixed income has often encouraged investors to rotate into equities, seeking higher returns as the bond market stabilizes.
The strongest performers within the Spanish index on Tuesday included Merlin Properties, which rallied alongside positive sentiment around the stock. The stock’s ascent was driven by Goldman Sachs issuing a buy recommendation and by a London-hosted event introducing the company to international investors. Such coverage can amplify foreign participation and may contribute to further upside if demand from global funds remains robust.
On the macro front, the United States offered a key reference point with the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for November, which rose to 102 after three consecutive months of decline. A stabilizing or improving consumer sentiment can translate into steadier spending trends and influence equity markets by reinforcing expectations of modest growth. This development often interacts with expectations around inflation, interest rate trajectories, and the pace of policy normalization across major economies.