The European stock markets say goodbye this Wednesday of the eighth month of 2022 and the balance is not exactly positive. The crisis with some central banks invoking further rate hikes has intensified in recent weeks and has hit equities again, although . The monthly decline in European parquets has exceeded 5%. In the case of the Spanish, the decrease exceeds 3%, suddenly erasing the . In fact, the national indicator has chained 11 negative sessions, something that has not happened before since . The Spanish selective ends August below 7,900 points.
Specifically, the Ibex 35 ends the day losing 1.17% and the month, leaving 3.31% to 7,886.1 points. The main continental reference, the EuroStoxx 50, falls 1.25% this Wednesday and 5.15% in August to 3,517.25 points. After its fourth consecutive session in the red, the European index is moving away from 3,600 points when last month it ended above 3,700.
This is not being a good year for the stock markets of the Old Continent. With August already crossed out, the accumulated falls since the end of 2021 in most of the parks are double digits. In the Spanish market they are 9.5% and in the market they exceed 18%.
Joan Cabrero, adviser to , points out: “The latest falls in the European stock markets are serving to correct part of the last strong rebound that was born in mid-July,” says this technical analyst, who locates the “key support” of the EuroStoxx in the 3,500 integers.
The Ibex chains 11 days in red
In homeland, the Ibex is not only moving away from the 8,000 units today, but has also lost 7,900 points. It was in the 7,940 where it had its support, according to Cabrero, although the expert emphasizes that the “key reference” is that of the EuroStoxx mentioned. The next step for the Ibex would be 7,765 points.
The Ibex 35 ends August with a deplorable balance despite having experienced a historic positive streak in recent weeks (). The problem is that said rally has been followed by its true reverse: the Ibex 35 has chained today its eleventh day in red, something that had not happened before.
The decreases have been the majority in a session in which Meliá Hotels achieved the best advance (+2.98%), followed by CaixaBank (+2.11%), Sabadell (+1.42%) and Bankinter (+1, 39%).
The sharpest setback was suffered by Red Eléctrica (-3.54%), ahead of Inditex (-2.66%), Enagás (-2.62%) and Iberdrola (-2.44%). Siemens Gamesa remained in a draw.
Looking at the companies with the largest capitalization, to the falls of Inditex and Iberdrola, those of Naturgy (-2.38%), Cellnex (-1.75%) and Santander (-1.25%) are added. On the contrary, BBVA advanced 0.11%.
In the monthly balance, the worst performer was Grifols, with a decline of more than 15%. Banco Sabadell, on the other hand, leads the gains, having recorded more than nine percentage points throughout August.
Inflation is pressing and central banks are ‘aggressive’
European equities. But the green numbers disappeared for much of the day after the latest eurozone inflation data was released.
Specifically, the consumer price index (CPI) . This increases the chances that the European Central Bank (ECB) will further tighten its monetary policy to face the rise in prices, even in spite of the foreseeable recession in the region (although the ECB ).
“The CPI adds pressure for the ECB to apply more forceful measures,” say Bankinter experts. Along the same lines, from Oxford Economics they already anticipate an increase in interest rates by 75 basis points next week (the ECB meets on Thursday, September 8). It would be an unprecedented rise in the price of money in the eurozone, but what . “We don’t see a dovish turn until 2023, after another 25 basis point move in February,” says Riccardo Marcelli Fabiani, an analyst at the aforementioned firm.
The other macro reference of the day has been the , also related to this month, and which has been worse than expected by analysts. The report marks “a turning point” in the labor market of the world’s largest power, which . The ‘cold’ data has led Wall Street to green, sensing a less aggressive Fed, cutting Europe’s losses, but doubts have not taken long to return, showing the setbacks.
This Friday the official figures for job creation and unemployment in the United States for last month will be released. That is why from Bankinter they assured first thing in the morning that “This week there is nothing to do.”
“We are already looking at the ECB meeting on September 8 and on American inflation on September 13. The American economy can withstand the rate hikes that the Fed wants to apply and that blocks the stock markets,” these experts say. Thus, August gives way to the ninth month of the year in which the central bank, once again, will set the course for the markets.