The Ibex 35 of the Madrid Stock Exchange recorded a rise of 0.26% in the mid-session of this Wednesday, allowing it to settle at 20,109 points. This increase occurred in a context of falling Brent crude prices, the benchmark in Europe, down to $85.83 per barrel, and with investors very attentive to the results of the American chip manufacturer Nvidia.
Throughout the day, the markets remain very focused on the situation in the Middle East following the economic offensive against Iran launched by the United States and the agreement that the Islamic Republic and Oman are trying to finalize to ensure a safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Omani Foreign Minister, Badr al Busaidi, met yesterday in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, to discuss "a phased plan" aimed at the "safe" resumption of navigation in Hormuz during his official visit to the country.
The proposed negotiation scheme includes the creation of a joint and provisional maritime corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as an agreement to promote a coordinated demining project in the area.
However, Iranian authorities have emphasized that this "phased plan" agreed with Oman to manage transit through the strait does not imply the "immediate opening" of this strategic enclave, as its unlocking will depend on the fulfillment of the conditions set by Tehran. Otherwise, they have warned, this route "will remain closed."
Qaribabadi explained that the entry route to the Persian Gulf will run through Iranian waters and the exit through Omani territorial waters. However, he specified that "in both, the ships will cross Iranian waters" within a kind of "two-way highway with a total width of about seven miles (about eleven kilometers)."
The deputy minister also emphasized that it is a "temporary" route, as Tehran and Muscat must agree within a period of 30 to 60 days on a new route that has "permanent" character.
Additionally, he stated that "the southern route of the Strait of Hormuz will be closed," referring to the southern corridor under U.S. control, through which, according to two U.S. officials cited by the Axios portal, 10 million barrels of crude transit daily. "This is an agreement. Oman agrees to close this route, and the matter will be communicated to the International Community," Qaribabadi noted.
In parallel to the increase in tension with Washington, the commander of the Iranian Air Defense Force, Amir Alireza Elhami, has highlighted that the recent confrontations with the United States and Israel have provided Tehran with "valuable experiences" in terms of "tactics" and "system production," and has assured that the country will be ready to apply them in future conflicts.
In this scenario, the price of Brent fell by 3% at the opening of European markets, to $85.83 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark in the United States, also decreased by 3%, to $79.95 per barrel.
In the macroeconomic sphere, the session arrives with few references in Europe and with attention focused on the United States, which will release the GDP data for the second quarter and the price indicator that the Federal Reserve (Fed) uses as a reference to track the evolution of inflation. All of this will be known on the eve of the start of the central bankers' summit in Jackson Hole, which begins tomorrow Thursday and in which the Fed president, Kevin Warsh, will speak on Friday in his debut at this forum.
Markets are also eagerly awaiting Nvidia's earnings, which will be published today after the close of European markets.
In Spain, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) released at 9:00 AM the mortgage data for homes corresponding to June, which grew by 10.8% year-on-year, to 45,907 loans, its highest figure for this month in the last 16 years.
LARGEST INCREASES AND DECREASES OF THE IBEX
In this context, in the mid-session of this Wednesday in the Madrid Stock Exchange, the most notable advances within the Ibex 35 were those of ArcelorMittal (+3.41%), Acerinox (+2.2%), IAG (+1.71%), Puig (+1.34%) and Fluidra (+1.03%). On the contrary, the largest corrections corresponded to Ferrovial (-3.07%), Indra (-1.28%), Naturgy (-1.27%), Repsol (-1.26%) and Banco Sabadell (-1.06%).
At the same time, the main European stock exchanges were mostly moving positively at 12:00 PM, except for London's FTSE 100, which fell by 0.13%. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.44%; the DAX 30 in Frankfurt, 0.2%; and the Mib in Milan, 0.18%.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro was losing ground against the dollar until it stood at 1.1666 "greenbacks," while in public debt the yield on the Spanish ten-year bond rose to 3.648%, which brought the risk premium —differential compared to the German ten-year bond— to 44.57 basis points.