The Ibex 35 of the Madrid Stock Exchange has concluded the session this Thursday with an increase of 1.12%, which has allowed it to return to above the psychological barrier of 20,000 points, a level it had lost last Monday.
At the close, the Spanish selective index has placed itself at 20,000.2 points in a day conditioned by the worsening of the conflict in the Middle East, after a new exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran that has once again strained energy markets and pushed the price of crude oil up to 97 dollars.
The President of the United States (USA), Donald Trump, has stated that the last attack launched by the U.S. military against Iran has been "hard" and has destroyed new military equipment, and although he has threatened with new attacks, he has predicted that the American offensive will not last long.
"Last night we dealt them a hard blow. We destroyed all the new equipment they were trying to install along the Strait of Hormuz," the U.S. leader has stated in remarks from the White House about the latest exchange of attacks with the Islamic Republic.
Despite the difficulties that still persist in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, has revealed that up to 17 million barrels of oil crossed through the Strait of Hormuz during the day last Monday, which would represent a record since the beginning of the U.S. offensive against Iran at the end of February.
In turn, the authorities of Kuwait have assured that their air defense systems are responding to missile and drone attacks launched by Iran, with no reports so far of casualties or material damage and without Tehran claiming these bombings.
At the same time, the authorities of Iran have warned this Thursday that Tehran "changed its defense doctrine" following the latest bombings carried out by the United States and have indicated that their response will henceforth be "unbalanced" and "aggressively destabilizing" for the North American country.
For his part, the Minister of Defense of Israel, Israel Katz, has warned that the Israeli army "will be free of ties" in the event of an attack from the Islamic Republic and has threatened to return the Asian country "to the Stone Age" by hitting "all military and civilian infrastructure."
In this context of maximum geopolitical tension, the price of Brent crude, a reference in Europe, rose by 1.35% at the close of the stock exchanges of the Old Continent, to 96.95 dollars, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a reference in the United States, increased by 1.63%, to 92.5 dollars per barrel.
"The recent escalation of attacks questions the viability of the so-called "safe corridor" in Hormuz, promoted by the US to preserve the flow of oil to international markets. With no signs to anticipate a swift resolution, oil exceeds 95 dollars per barrel. The rise in energy prices complicates inflation and interest rate prospects," say analysts from Bankinter.
The main European indices close in green with contained advances
In the macroeconomic sphere, the activity of the private sector in the eurozone has remained stable in August, repeating the 52 points recorded in July. In Spain, the Public Treasury placed this Thursday 6,273.3 million euros in bonds and state obligations, within the expected range, increasing the yield offered to investors in the issued references and marking a historical maximum in the marginal interest of 15-year inflation-linked obligations.
In the corporate realm, the supermarket chain Dia has announced that it has concluded its second temporary share buyback program after reaching the set limit of 405,000 shares, equivalent to 0.697% of the share capital.
On its part, Iberia, part of the IAG holding, will resume direct flights from today between Madrid and Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Caracas (Venezuela), after operations were interrupted due to the earthquakes recorded in the Latin American country last June.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the integrated circuit manufacturer Broadcom reported a net profit of 13.088 billion dollars (about 11.270 billion euros) in the third quarter, a 216% increase, more than tripling the 4.140 billion dollars (3.567 billion euros) from the same period of the previous year.
In this scenario, the most bullish stocks of the Ibex 35 at the close have been Acerinox (+2.84%), Sacyr (+2.4%), Caixabank (+2.35%), Bankinter (+2.27%) and ACS (+2.18%). On the downside, Indra led the declines (-2.29%), ahead of Naturgy (-1.01%), Rovi (-0.58%), Logista (-0.57%) and Enagás (-0.54%).
The rest of the major European indices also ended the session in positive territory, although with more moderate increases than those of the Spanish index. The FTSE MIB of Milan rose by 0.88%; the FTSE 100 of London, by 0.7%; the Dax 30 of Frankfurt, by 0.63%; and the CAC 40 of Paris, by 0.07%.
Debt relaxes and bitcoin surpasses 80,000 dollars again
In the sovereign debt market, the yield of the Spanish 10-year bond has decreased to 3.784%, which has brought the risk premium over the German bond to a level of 45.17 basis points.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro appreciated by around 0.3% against the dollar, reaching around 1.1621 "greenbacks".
Among the so-called safe-haven assets in times of high uncertainty, the ounce of gold rose by 2.7%, to 4,500 dollars, while the main cryptocurrency, bitcoin, advanced by 4%, approaching 80,100 "greenbacks".