This Wednesday marked a pause in a six-day uptrend for the mountain goat 35 and finished down 0.31%. After a flood of macroeconomic data from North America and Europe, the index briefly touched 9,551.1, trading above 9,600 at several points during the negotiations.
The Spanish session opened with gains as the National Institute of Statistics noted that inflation in Spain rose three-tenths in August to 2.6 percent due to higher fuel prices. Preliminary data also showed a one-tenth decline to 6.1 percent in the broader metrics, bringing a mixed picture for the economy.
But the index shifted to negative territory mid-session, slipping away from the 9,600 level that had stood as a near-term high just a month earlier.
From there, the market recovered some ground as investors reassessed the situation, and the pre-inflation figures in Germany hovered around 6.1 percent for August, below expectations, while the core rate held at 5.5 percent.
In the end, the Spanish benchmark closed lower as the Dow Jones briefed a slower European opening, yet remained comfortably above the 9,500 mark, pressured by the volatile moves on the New York parquet. U.S. GDP grew 0.5 percent in the second quarter, aligning with the initial estimate and marking a revision that was one-tenth below the preliminary figure.
In the same country, ADP released an August employment report showing job creation of 177,000, below expectations and roughly half of the prior month. This news paired with the July JOLTS data, which indicated vacancies retreating to levels last seen in 2021, underscoring a cooling labor market.
These signals may tilt investors toward awaiting a pause at the Federal Reserve’s upcoming September meeting. Within Ibex 35, gains came from unicaja, up 1.83 percent; Rovi Laboratories, up 1.08 percent; BBVA, up 0.6 percent; Telefónica, up 0.55 percent; and ACS, up 0.5 percent. Weaker sentiment was evident in the energy sector, with Acciona Energía down 2.58 percent; Iberdrola down 2.31 percent, a heavyweight in the index; Solaria down 2.25 percent; Grifols down 2.04 percent; and Acciona down 1.12 percent.
The rest of Europe finished with a mixed tone: Paris rose 0.12 percent, Frankfurt 0.24 percent, Milan 0.09 percent, and London 0.12 percent.
In commodities, Brent crude extended its upward trend and settled at a modest gain of 0.05 percent. Texas notes climbed 0.23 percent to 81.37 dollars per barrel, with intraday highs around 85.52 dollars.
Meanwhile in the foreign exchange arena, the euro strengthened by 0.37 percent against the dollar, reclaiming levels seen two weeks prior. The currency touched 1.092, while the Spanish 10-year bond yield finished at 3.552 percent after a slight uptick of three basis points. The risk premium over the German bund remained around 101.2 basis points.