European stock markets have rebounded strongly on the last day of the week. The increases in Wall Street have paved the way for purchases in the Old Continent and in an Ibex that has managed to save the week with a gain of 0.2%, after adding 1.68% to 8,338.10 points today.
Purchases have returned on the last day of another week of maximum tension, with sharp movements again in the main stock market indices and with crashes in the riskiest assets. As Bankinter analysts point out, “a good thermometer of fear is cryptocurrencies”, and after the crash suffered in the previous days, the rebound they are experiencing today reflects the lower climate of tension in the markets.
The resistance to falls at yesterday’s close on Wall Street and today’s bullish pull invites purchases in the Old Continent. The Tokyo Nikkei soared 2.6%, helped by the boost given by the rise in the dollar to Japanese exporting companies.
The day’s agenda has avoided the doses of tension experienced in days like Wednesday, marked by the US CPI data. In return, geopolitical tensions have extended their reach with threats from Russia in the wake of Finland’s decision to apply for NATO membership. Waiting for further movements, the news points to further cuts in the supply of Russian gas to Europe.
The alerts about a possible supply deficit are reactivated, and the fear of energy rationing measures in Europe deepens the reductions adopted in the economic forecasts. One of its consequences has been an additional punishment to the price of the euro. Its cushion on the parity is reduced, and the community currency has come to lose at times the 1.04 dollars. The British pound is exchanged for $1.22.
In the debt market sales return after the sharp cut in the yields of previous days. The required return on the German bund is once again close to 1%, while in Spain the interest rate on the ten-year bond is once again above 2%. In the US, the ten-year bond yield rises to 2.90%.
The Spanish stock market has activated the rebound and the Ibex has managed to erase the falls accumulated in the week and recover 8,300 points. Specifically, it closed at 8,338.10 points after adding 1.68% today and 0.2% for the week as a whole.
The greatest truce in today’s session has returned the rises to bank prices, with Santander and BBVA at the head of the sector, with rises of 2.81% and 3.01%, respectively. The biggest revaluations of the session have been scored by Fluidra (4.78%) and Solaria (4.53%).
Another weighty value such as Telefónica has not managed to continue the climb against the current that it achieved yesterday thanks to the publication of its results and has corrected a minimum 0.06%. Naturgy has also closed with cuts, which has added another 1.44% to the 6.76% drop on Thursday after the presentation of results.
The rest of the European stock markets have taken advantage of the less disturbing references coming from Wall Street to write down increases of more than 2%. The German Dax has risen 2.10%; the French Cac, 2.52%; the Italian Mib, 2.05% and the British Ftse, 2.55%.
Oil market traders have become accustomed of late to receiving mixed news. Overall, downside risks to both demand and supply predominate. OPEC has lowered its demand estimates again, an outlook that offsets fears caused by Russian gas cuts to Ukraine and restrictions on oil from Russia. The barrel of Brent rises to 111 dollars and the West Texas rate, the benchmark in the US, is trading at 110.
The rise of the dollar and the forcefulness against inflation promised by the central banks continue to weigh down the price of gold. The precious metal falls back to lose $1,810. This time, the day is much more favorable for bitcoin. The cryptocurrency market breaks the slump of recent sessions and rebounds strongly, to the point that bitcoin recovers $30,000.
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