The Ibex 35 managed at midday this Thursday an advance of 0.28%, after having lost 0.11% at the opening, which has allowed it to return to 18,102.4 points.
On the geopolitical front, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has described Iran as a "defeated nation" and has stressed that talks with Tehran are "right on the edge," warning that if Washington does not receive "the right answers" from the Iranian leadership, the situation "will precipitate very quickly."
In the international arena, the minutes of the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the United States Federal Reserve (Fed), corresponding to April, were published this Wednesday, which noted that a further tightening of US monetary policy might be necessary if inflation continues to rebound and remains above 2%, in line with the central bank's dual mandate of achieving maximum employment and price stability.
On the corporate front, after the closing of the European stock markets, it was known that Nvidia concluded the first quarter of its fiscal year with a net profit of 58,321 million dollars (50,181 million euros), which implies an increase of 211% compared to the same period of the previous year.
On the macroeconomic front, the European Commission has revised upwards, albeit slightly, its growth forecast for the Spanish economy in 2026, despite the impact of the new energy shock derived from the conflict in the Middle East. It now estimates that GDP will increase by 2.4% this year, one tenth more than in autumn, which would allow Spain to continue leading growth among the major euro zone economies in a context of generalized deterioration of prospects in Europe.
As for Spanish companies, and before the markets opened, FCC has announced that it will submit for approval by its general shareholders' meeting, convened for June 24 on first call, the distribution of a gross dividend of 0.50 euros per share charged to the share premium reserve.
Likewise, Inmocemento, an independent company resulting from the spin-off of FCC's real estate and cement activities, will propose at its shareholders' meeting, also scheduled for June 24, the distribution of a gross dividend of 0.15 euros per share from share premium. The first-quarter results of Atrys and Cirsa were also released on this day.
In addition, the Spanish Public Treasury has placed 6,055.15 million euros in a medium and long-term debt auction this Thursday, within the expected range, increasing the yield offered to investors on the three issued benchmarks, according to Bank of Spain data.
On the other hand, the gas sector has requested modifications from the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) to the circulars that set the remuneration methodologies for the transport, regasification, and distribution of natural gas for the 2027-2032 period, considering the regulator's current proposal to be "insufficient".
In this scenario, Naturgy was the most bullish stock in the selective index at mid-session, with a rise of 3.35%. It was followed by Banco Sabadell (+1.43%), Logista (+1.34%), Fluidra (+1.16%), IAG (+1.16%), and Redeia (+1.15%). On the downside, Acciona Energía (-0.76%), Grifols (-0.67%), ArcelorMittal (-0.55%), Acerinox (-0.40%), and Puig (-0.40%) stood out.
In the rest of the main European stock markets, London was down 0.01% at mid-session, while Paris gained 0.34%; Frankfurt, 0.47%; and Milan, 0.32%.
The Brent crude barrel was trading at 104.15 dollars, down 0.86%, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at 97.66 dollars, down 0.61%.
In the debt market, the yield on the Spanish 10-year bond remained practically stable at 3.516%, although the risk premium over the German bond rose slightly to 43.3 basis points.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro also remained virtually unchanged against the dollar, with an exchange rate of 1.1619 dollars per euro.