Spanish equities finished the session lower on Wednesday, with the IBEX 35 declining 3.01% at the close in Madrid. The market drop was driven by weakness in the Financial Services & Real Estate, Consumer Goods and Consumer Services sectors.
Top and bottom movers
Among the IBEX 35 components, Repsol (BME:REP) was the session's strongest performer, advancing 4.54% or 1.00 point to close at 23.03. Naturgy Energy Group SA (BME:NTGY) rose 1.24% or 0.34 points to finish at 27.80, and Endesa SA (BME:ELE) gained 0.26% or 0.10 points to end the day at 38.17.
On the downside, Amadeus IT (BME:AMA) led losses, sliding 5.44% or 2.83 points to a close of 49.15. Banco Santander (BME:SAN) declined 5.06% or 0.63 points to 11.85, while stainless-steel producer Acerinox (BME:ACX) fell 4.99% or 0.81 points to 15.43.
Market breadth and session profile
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the Madrid Stock Exchange by 159 to 33, with 16 stocks finishing unchanged. The IBEX 35 closed the day at 19,049.30, down 590.90 points or 3.01% from the prior close.
Commodities and FX
Commodities saw divergent moves. Gold futures for August delivery retreated 2.63% or 109.15 to trade at 4,048.25 a troy ounce. Oil moved higher on the session - crude for August delivery climbed 7.20% or 5.07 to reach 75.51 a barrel, while the September Brent contract increased 7.70% or 5.71 to trade at 79.87 a barrel.
In foreign exchange markets, the euro remained near prior levels against major currencies - EUR/USD was effectively unchanged, showing a 0.11% move to 1.14, and EUR/GBP registered a 0.18% change to 0.85. The US Dollar Index Futures was higher, up 0.22% at 101.00.
This session left a clear split between energy and utility names that advanced and a broader market led lower by financial and consumer-related stocks. Market participants noted heavy downside breadth as more than four times as many issues fell as rose.