The Ibex 35 of the Madrid Stock Exchange recorded at midday this Wednesday a decrease of 0.26%, which caused the loss of the threshold of 19,900 points. Specifically, the main Spanish index stood at 19,885 points on a day conditioned by the worsening of the conflict in the Middle East, which keeps the barrel of crude around 92 dollars.
Last Monday, the 60 days that the United States (US) and Iran had given themselves to close a global agreement to end the war in the Middle East concluded, an objective that has not yet been achieved.
The attempts proclaimed by Washington to force Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and return to the negotiating table have proven insufficient, and hostilities have now lasted for six months.
In this line, the US president, Donald Trump, confirmed this Tuesday that "there are no conversations or dialogue" planned with Iran and that the naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz remains in effect after the expiration of the agreement reached between both parties last June.
For his part, the president of the Parliament and chief negotiator of Iran, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, accused the United States of the Trump Administration "believing that pressing Iran more will allow it to obtain concessions that were never part of the framework agreement signed between Washington and Tehran in mid-June."
At the same time, at least six Palestinians have lost their lives and more than a dozen have been injured in a new bombing by the Israeli Army on the city of Gaza, despite the ceasefire agreed between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in October 2025. The authorities of Gaza already raise the death toll to 1,265 and the injured to 4,198 due to actions by the Israeli Army since the ceasefire came into effect.
In this scenario, the price of Brent crude, a reference for Europe, rose by 0.92% to 92 dollars at 12:00 hours, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a reference in the United States, increased by 0.85% to 85.65 dollars per barrel.
On the trade front, Trump has announced a three-day delay in the implementation of a 50% tariff on imports from Canada, which was set to take effect this Thursday, after reaching an understanding to resume the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, intended to connect Nebraska (US) with Alberta (Canada).
Federal Reserve minutes, Lagarde's message, and inflation data
This Wednesday, once the session in the European markets concludes, the minutes of the last monetary policy meeting of the Federal Reserve of the United States (Fed) will be published. At the same time, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has defended at an event of the World Economic Forum the importance of reducing the fragmentation of the European market so that investment and companies in the bloc can grow and compete, with the aim of not being left out of the revolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
In the macroeconomic sphere, the year-on-year inflation rate of the eurozone stood at 2.9% in July, one-tenth above the June figure, while in the whole of the European Union it also rose by one-tenth, to 3%, as confirmed by Eurostat this Wednesday.
Likewise, before the opening of the markets, the inflation of the United Kingdom was released, which accelerated in July its annual rate to 2.9%, three-tenths more than in the previous month and its highest level since March, driven by the rise in energy prices.
Behavior of the Ibex 35 and other European markets
In this context, by mid-session this Wednesday, the most notable increases within the Spanish selective were those of Solaria (+3.81%), Inditex (+1.19%), Sacyr (+0.99%), ArcelorMittal (+0.84%) and Ferrovial (+0.66%). On the downside, the worst records corresponded to Cellnex (-2.3%), Colonial (-1.85%), Melin (-1.13%), Acciona Energía (-1.05%) and Banco Santander (-0.79%).
Regarding the main stock exchanges of the Old Continent, most were moving in negative territory by midday, with the exception of the French CAC 40, which advanced by 0.28%. The British FTSE fell by 0.2%, the Italian Mib retreated by 0.16%, and the German DAX 30 dropped by 0.1%.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro appreciated against the dollar by 0.27%, to an exchange rate of 1.1607 "greenbacks", while in sovereign debt, the yield of the Spanish ten-year bond rose to 3.714%.