The Ibex 35 recorded a decline of 0.4% at midday this Friday, which meant losing the reference of 18,900 points and placing itself at 18,838 units. To find a lower level than noted this Friday at 12:00 hours, one has to go back to the close of June 12, when the Spanish selective ended at 18,764 points.
The scenario in the markets continues to be conditioned by the tension in the Middle East and doubts about the evolution of the conflict and crude supply, factors that have once again driven oil prices above 114 dollars per barrel, their highest level in more than five months, after the escalation of attacks by Houthi forces against various targets in Saudi Arabia, including refining facilities.
The Houthi insurgents from Yemen have confirmed a series of attacks launched in recent hours against important targets in Saudi Arabia, including the Ministry of Defense, the Yanbu refinery, and several airports in the country, within the framework of the escalation of the Yemen conflict.
The spokesman for the Houthi forces, Yahya Sari, has reported four "high-level military operations in the last 48 hours" using "ballistic missiles and drones."
Likewise, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, accused Iran this Thursday of raising the price of oil as an electoral tool against his Republican party ahead of the crucial legislative elections on November 3.
In parallel, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which this Friday killed two Palestinians after a shooting attack carried out in southern West Bank, to close "immediately the city of Hebron and prepare for the total closure of all of West Bank.
In this context, the price of Brent crude oil --reference in Europe-- rose 1.1% in the midday session of the European stock exchanges, to 114.37 dollars per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) --reference in the US-- increased by 1.65%, to 101.12 "green bills" per barrel.
In the Spanish corporate sphere, Squirrel has communicated, before the market opening, that it has acquired an additional 34.25% stake in Comercializadora BF, a Chilean firm dedicated to the distribution and commercialization of film and audiovisual content, thus raising its shareholding from 51.05% to 85.3% of the share capital.
In this context, during the midday session this Friday on the Madrid Stock Exchange, the biggest advances within the Ibex 35 corresponded to Repsol (+3.57%), Cellnex (+1.5%), Acerinox (+1.03%), Rovi (+0.67%) and Acciona Energía (+0.65%). On the loss side, the sharpest declines at 12:00 hours were those of Indra (-2.77%), Telefónica (-1.93%), IAG (-1.9%), Puig (-1.56%) and Arcelormittal (-1.52%).
At the same time, the main European stock exchanges were moving in negative territory, still very attentive to the evolution of the conflict in the Middle East and the publication of third-quarter corporate results. Thus, the German DAX 30 fell by 0.89%; the French CAC 40, by 0.8%; the British FTSE 100, by 0.6%; and the Italian Mib, by 0.47%.
"We expect a strong third-quarter earnings season, in which revenues contribute increasingly to that strength, along with continued cost discipline and solid demand driven by investment," defended Matthew Gilman, strategist, and Rolf Ganter, head of European Equities at UBS Global Wealth Management.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro ceded ground against the dollar, trading in the markets at 1.1203 "greenbacks," while in fixed income, the yield on the Spanish ten-year bond stood at 4.042% and the risk premium --the differential compared to the German "bund" at the same term-- rose to 69.9 basis points.