The Ibex 35 opened Wednesday with a modest rise of 0.13%, pushing the principal Spanish index to around 10,051.2 points. Investors were monitoring the release of the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting in the United States, looking for clues on monetary policy directions and economic outlook.
The markets also kept an eye on the European Central Bank’s non-monetary policy meeting while the global economic backdrop remained largely shaped by a steady stream of corporate earnings reports.
The market before the bell noted that Squirrel Media reported a net profit of 17.6 million euros for 2023, a figure nearly four times higher than the 2022 result of 4.6 million euros.
Grifols announced that Grifols Egypt is now receiving sufficient donations to cover the country’s current internal need for immunoglobulins, marking a key milestone in Egypt’s plan to achieve strategic autonomy in plasma-derived treatments.
As trading began, the largest Ibex 35 gain went to Enagás at +2.51%, followed by Colonial (+0.78%), Solaria (+0.70%), and Banco Sabadell (+0.43%).
In contrast, the main decliners were Acciona Energía (-1.06%), Cellnex (-0.78%), Bankinter (-0.31%), and Rovi (-0.28%).
Major European stock markets opened the session with mixed trajectories. London fell by 0.46%, while Milan, Paris, and Frankfurt advanced by 0.41%, 0.19%, and 0.16% respectively.
At the market’s opening, Brent crude, the European benchmark, rose 0.3% to 82.59 euros per barrel, while Texas Intermediate traded at 77.25 euros, up 0.27%.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro rose to around 1.0811 dollars, while yields on Spain’s 10-year government bond climbed to about 3.298% amid a broad shift in risk sentiment and debt dynamics.