- Santander's results were better than expected and led the gains in the index
- Dow Jones breaches 20,000 for the first time in its history
The Ibex 35 closed at its highest level of more than a year on Wednesday. The index rose 1.73% to finish on 9,549 points. This level has not been reached since December 2015, and has been thanks to the banking sector, which showed important gains owing to the better-than-expected results of Banco Santander. In addition, it is the biggest rise registered by the Ibex since December 8.
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- 11.069,700
- -0,76%
However, Caixabank led the advances with a gain of 6.43% to 3.55 euros. Santander rose 4.03% to 5.37 euros. The bank ran by Ana Patricia Botin earned more than 6.2 billion euros in 2016, which represents a 4% higher figure than 2015. Sabadell was the third best performer, finishing 3.99% higher at 1.38 euros, and will report its results on Friday.
All of the banks in the Ibex 35 finished higher on Wednesday. Banco Popular regained 3.28% to reach over one euro per share. Bankia closed with a gain of 3.1% to 0.99 euros. BBVA rose 3.16% to 6.46 euros, and Bankinter with an advance of 2.33%, before it presents its results on Thursday.
On the fallers side, ArcelorMittal fell the most after dropping 2.18% to 7.50 euros. It was followed by Endesa, with a fall of 0.98% to 19.21 euros, and Enagas, which was down 0.85% to finish on 22.76 euros.
OTHER MARKETS
Outside of Spain, Wall Street was the big news of the day as Donald Trump eases into his first week in the Oval Office. The three main indices have been rallying since his victory, with the Dow Jones finally reaching the historic 20,000 mark for the first time in its history.
Returning to the Old Continent, all European stock exchanges were higher on Wednesday, aprt from the Portuguese PS1 20. The Dax 30 in Germany gained 1.82%, the Cac 40 in France closed higher by 0.99%, with the Ftse 100 gaining 0.2%.
Novartis also released its quarterly results in the US. The company indicated a fall in operating profits of 2% in the last fiscal year, owing to the "generic erosion and investor growth". BT Group has lost a fifth of its value after news of financial irregularities in its Italian affiliate.
In the macro arena, Bank of England governor Mark Carney will speak in Germany at a conference for Bundesbank. ECB member Sabine Lautenschlaeger said on Tuesday that the bank may start to plan for monetary stimulus soon, according to Reuters.
Lastly, markets will still remain alert to oil prices and the energy sector, after Trump signed executive orders for new pipelines in the US. At the hour of closing in Euro markets, Brent crude was 0.13% higher at $55.51, while West Texas was 0.21% higher at $53.29.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
"This Tuesday we said that we didn't like the close of the Ibex 35 because some of the biggest stocks were in the highest part of the table," said José María Rodríguez, Bolsamanía technical analyst.
"Despite the good feeling that we have today, the most important thing is still missing - to be able to close above 9,550 in the week, or the same prices as last Friday," he added.
