MADRID, 18 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ibex 35 closed this Thursday with a rise of 1.23%, reaching 10,765 points - a level it lost a week ago -, encouraged by the general increases in the banking sector, since Bankinter today gave the 'pistole' ' exit to the business results season when presenting its first quarter accounts.

Furthermore, the stock market day has been marked by the news that Puig will debut on the Spanish stock market on May 3 with a valuation between 12.7 billion and 13.9 billion euros, which would place him in 15th place on the Ibex 35, the main indicator of the Spanish market.

The selective has started this day with increases that have stabilized around 0.75% during almost the entire negotiation, although the index has made another important jump towards profits from the opening of Wall Street, whose indices added more than 0.5% at closing time in Europe.

In this way, the Ibex 35 has added nearly 250 points to its valuation in the last two sessions, which is equivalent to an advance of 2.3%.

Going into the details of the session, as is traditional, Bankinter today gave the starting signal by presenting its accounts for the first quarter, when it recorded a net profit of 201 million euros in the first quarter, which represents an increase of 9%, and despite having already accounted for a payment of 95 million euros for the extraordinary banking tax.

Renta 4 analyst Nuria Álvarez recommends overweighting Bankinter after presenting these results, which meet the forecasts that the bank had given to the market, in such a way that she gives a target price to the share of 7.9 euros per share. .

On the other hand, the media conglomerate MFE-MediaForEurope (MFE) has informed the market that it obtained a reported net profit of 209.2 million euros in 2023, which represents a decrease of 3.6% compared to the profits recorded in the previous year.

Investors will also be keeping an eye on Naturgy, after the Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business, Carlos Body, has assured, regarding the interest of the Emirati group Taqa in the energy company, that the Government has "the necessary regulatory instruments" to defend the strategic interests of the country and the protection of its companies.

For its part, the Spanish Public Treasury has placed this Thursday 6,142.77 million euros in an issue of bonds and obligations of the State, in the high range expected, and has done so by increasing the profitability offered to investors, according to published data by the Bank of Spain. The excess demand that this issue has received has been 12,558 million euros.

On the macroeconomic agenda this Thursday, it was known that the German economy would have grown slightly again in the first three months of 2024, thus avoiding chaining two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction, which imply entering a technical recession, as pointed out the Bundesbank, the German central bank, in its monthly bulletin for April.

In Spain, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) has reported that the billing of the services sector accelerated in February and has risen 5.4%, its largest increase in a year; while industry turnover increases 1.7% in February and adds two months of promotions.

For its part, in the United States it has been published that the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index has risen much more than expected in April - in fact, a worsening was expected - while the sale of second-hand homes has slowed down. in March.

Given this situation, the biggest increases within the Ibex 35 have been recorded by IAG (5.54%), Bankinter (5.3%), Sabadell (4.09%), Unicaja (3.69%), Santander (2 .86%) and Caixabank (2.77%).

On the other hand, only seven values ​​have closed with losses: Enagás (-0.07%), Indra (-0.39%), Ferrovial (-0.95%), ACS (-0.98%), Repsol (-1.02%), Rovi (-1.55%) and Grifols (-2.45%).

Naturgy has deflated, registering an increase of 0.26% after in the early stages of the session it shot up almost 5% following the confirmation of the Emirati group Taqa that they are holding talks with the energy company's shareholders for a possible landing in the capital of the company through a public acquisition offer (OPA).

The main European stock markets have added gains, although with less intensity than Madrid: London has advanced 0.37%; Frankfurt 0.38%; Paris 0.52% and Milan 0.74%.

At closing time in the Old Continent, in the raw materials market, the price of a barrel of Brent quality oil, a reference for the Old Continent, fell 0.3%, to $87, while that of Texas stood at $82.65, with a decrease of 0.05%.

In the currency market, the price of the euro fell 0.1% against the dollar, to 1.066 'greenbacks', while in the debt market the interest required on the ten-year Spanish bond closed at 3.312% after adding one basis point, with the risk premium (the differential with the German bond) at 81.7 points.