- Banco Popular falls 9.8%, falling 20% in the last two sessions
- The bank's woes have spread to other financial entities again
- Political tensions remain the focus for many investors
The Ibex 35 continues to fall, but on Tuesday it was able to sustain itself above 10,400 points. The index fell 0.21%, despite having registered gains during the session, and finds itself at 10,416 points. The banks were once again at fault for the loss on Tuesday.
- 11.100,800
- -0,48%
For the second consecutive day, Banco Popular was the worst performer, with a fall of 9.67% to 0.66 euros, its lowest price in 30 years. As such, the bank has accumulated a fall of 20%. The declarations of its president Emilio Saracho about a capital injection or sale of the entity keeps affecting its market price.
With this, the story repeats itself and the other banks have been affected by Popular’s fall. Bankia was the third biggest loser after falling 1.87%, just above 1 euro per share. Caixabank also closed more than 1% lower (-1.21%) and finds itself at 3.8 euros. With respect to the biggest banks in the Ibex, Banco Santander was also lower by 0.76%. Ana Botin’s bank reported on Tuesday that it was to get rif of its 7.2% stake in Abengoa after having already reduced its stake in the Andalucian company. BBVA also fell, by 0.3%.
Apart from the banking sector, ArcelorMittal also had a poor day at the office after a fall of 2.38%, which made it the second worst performer among Spain’s top companies. Repsol and Iberdrola, two heavyweights in the exchange, were also unable to escape losses, by 0.57% and 0.34% respectively.
On the gains side, Gamesa led the advances after climbing more than 3% to 19.74 euros, after paying out its dividend of 3.6 euros per share after closing its merger with Siemens. In the higher part of the table it was accompanied by Técnicas Reunidas and IAG with gains of more than 2%. On the other side, among the main stocks in the index, Inditex rose 0.3% to 33.9 euros, while Telefonica was 0.34% higher at 10.38 euros.
OTHER MARKETS
The rest of European markets closed with a mixed bag. The DAX 30 lost 0.5%, the CAC 40 in France some 0.11%, while the FTSE 100 in London was in and out all day, finally closing 0.23% higher.
At the moment of European markets closing, Wall Street registered losses heading towards 1%. Geopolitical tension is aplenty in the other side of the Atlantic. US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that North Korea was “looking for trouble”. In addition, secretary of state Rex Tillerson has travelled to Russia in order to discuss issues related to Syria.
In the oil market, Brent crude was quoting losses of 0.7% to $55.59 per barrel and West Texas was 0.51% lower at $52.81. The euro continues to gain ground against the dollar and was 0.25% against the US currency at $1.0623.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
José María Rodríguez, technical analyst at Bolsamanía, pointed out that the losses for the Ibex on Tuesday “mean little by themselves.” He added that it was simply a “drop in the ocean of upward movement.”
“We should remain cautious however, as we always say it’s easy to know how things start but more difficult to know how they finish. What’s evident is that we are not heading higher with the same energy as before,” Rodriguez added.
