• The Fed will make its interest rate decision known on Wednesday
  • Friday sees the quadruple witching and 21 December is Catalan election day
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The Ibex 35 dropped 0.14% on Monday but managed to stay above 10,300 points (10,306.90), in a day of transition as it waits on key meetings this week from the world’s biggest central banks. The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will all see key meetings this week.

IBEX 35

  • 11.154,600
  • 1,56%

In the Ibex, Amadeus fell 1.3% and was one of the biggest fallers after Ryanair announced it was ending its agreement with the company. Mediaset España was down 1.58%, followed by Ferrovial (-1.5%), Endesa (-1.15%) and Sabadell (-1%).

Telefonica was down 0.37% after a drastic cut in its valuation from Bernstein and the expectation that it will give out its dividend on Thursday. Other blue chips such as Repsol (-0.68%) and Aena hampered the market.

Among the better performers of the day, Acerinox rose 2.23%, Cellnex Telecom was up 1.83% and Grifols 1.45%. Other stocks such as Inditex (+0.24%), BBVA (+0.17%) and Santander (+0.11%) were also higher on the day.

In commodities, Brent crude was up 1.8% to $64.65, while gold was up 0.1% to $1.249. In forex, the euro was up 0.24% and recovered $1.18, but the story of the day was Bitcoin, after it shot up to new highs on Monday and is now above $16,000 after the launch of Bitcoin futures on the CBOE.

CENTRAL BANKS

Regarding the many key references this week, Wednesday will see the decision of the US Federal Reserve on interest rates, which is very much expected and possibly even priced in already. On Thursday it’s the ECB’s turn as it explains how it will go about reducing stimulus, while the Bank of England will also meet the same day.

“We have a very busy week for central banks with the meetings of the Federal Reserve, the ECB and the BoE, and the EU summit where Brexit negotiations will be in focus,” said analysts at Deutsche Bank.

This week is also the last before we enter into the final stages of Catalan elections, which will take place next Thursday and will ensure an increase in political uncertainty for the region and the rest of Spain. It remains to be seen how the Ibex will react as the votes come in. On top of that, Friday also sees the quadruple witching which heightens volatility in the market.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS

“Although it is true that the beginning of the week means little, or better said there are little implications from a technical point of view, it does leave us feeling more content than the start of the day. Why? Because the losses of the morning would have been able to fill the upper gap from last Friday of 10,262 points,” said Bolsamanía analyst José María Rodríguez.

“While this gap is not filled, we will continue without having much of a weakness in the short term, which leaves the door open in the next few days to make a push towards resistance levels at 10,600 points.”

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