Spanish stocks finished the trading day on Friday with gains, as sector strength in Building & Construction, Financial Services & Real Estate and Telecoms & IT pushed the market higher.
At the close in Madrid, the benchmark IBEX 35 index rose 0.81%.
Top performers
- Bankinter (BME:BKT) led the advance among IBEX 35 constituents, climbing 2.50% - a 0.35 point increase - to finish at 14.35.
- Caixabank SA (BME:CABK) added 2.48%, gaining 0.27 points to close at 10.97.
- Amadeus IT (BME:AMA) also moved higher, up 2.21% or 1.06 points to end the session at 49.00.
Lagging names
- Puig Brands SA (BME:PUIGb) was the weakest on the IBEX 35 list, slipping 0.86% or 0.14 points to finish at 16.20.
- Laboratorios Farmaceuticos ROVI (BME:ROVI) fell 0.63%, a 0.50 point decline, to close at 78.55.
- Naturgy Energy Group SA (BME:NTGY) declined 0.55% or 0.14 points to end at 25.48.
Market breadth on the Madrid Stock Exchange favored advancing issues, with 110 stocks rising versus 79 that fell and 19 remaining unchanged.
Commodities and energy
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for April delivery gained 1.87% - an increase of 93.54 - to trade at $5,090.94 a troy ounce. By contrast, crude oil prices were softer: crude oil for April delivery edged down 0.11% or $0.07 to $66.33 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract dipped 0.01% or $0.01 to $71.65 a barrel.
Foreign exchange and dollar
Currency moves were modest. EUR/USD was unchanged 0.08% to 1.18, while EUR/GBP was unchanged 0.13% to 0.87. The US Dollar Index Futures traded lower, down 0.13% at 97.72.
The session closed with the IBEX 35 higher and with gains concentrated in financials and technology-related sectors, while a handful of consumer and energy names weighed on the index.
Note: This report summarizes market moves at the close in Madrid and records the price and percentage changes for listed instruments and selected IBEX 35 constituents as reported at the close.