The Ibex 35 of the Madrid Stock Exchange was starting the session this Monday with a drop of 0.38%, although the selective managed to hold above 19,300 points and stood at 19,311.10 units. This start occurred in parallel to a nearly 4% rise in the price of oil, which was approaching 79 dollars amid a new escalation of tension in the Middle East.
The increase in crude came after the United States Army (USA) announced the closure of a new series of "offensive attacks" against "dozens of targets in multiple locations" in an operation whose declared aim is to "weaken Iran's ability" to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz. However, the military body itself pointed out "air defense systems" as the first among the targets hit.
"The US Central Command (Centcom) has completed a new wave of offensive attacks against Iran on July 12," Centcom indicated in a note released shortly after 10:30 p.m. in Florida – 4:30 a.m. Monday in Spain and 6:00 a.m. in Iran.
In this new offensive, US forces claimed to have hit "dozens of targets in multiple locations with precision munitions" within an operation aimed at "weakening Iran's ability to continue attacking international shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz."
In this scenario, the Brent barrel advanced 3.6%, to 78.8 dollars, while the WTI, the US benchmark, hovered around 74 dollars after registering a rise of 3.7%.
In the corporate sphere, Cirsa reported the purchase of a majority stake in Slots del Sol, the main online casino operator in Paraguay.
At the start of trading this Monday in Plaza de la Lealtad, IAG led the declines with a retreat of 1.9%, followed by Arcelormittal, which lost 1.7%, and Ferrovial, which dropped 1.4% in the early stages.
On the gains side of the index, Repsol registered the most significant increases, rising 1.9%, while Telefónica advanced 0.7% and Naturgy revalued 0.4% at the start of the day.
In the rest of Europe, among the main stock exchanges, London's Ftse100 started the session with a slight advance of 0.2%, while Frankfurt's Dax retreated 0.3% and Paris's Cac 40 fell 0.2%.
In the sovereign debt market, the yield on the Spanish 10-year bond stood at 3.5% after an increase of 0.6%. In the foreign exchange market, the euro weakened against the dollar and was trading in the markets at 1.1402 dollars.