MADRID, 19 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Ibex 35 registered an increase of 0.19% in the mid-session, so the selective stood at 9,905.2 points, recovering the level of 9,900 integers, on a day in which Wall Street will remain closed for the ‘President’s day’.
In the business field, the board of directors of Banco Santander has agreed to propose to the ordinary general meeting of shareholders in 2024 the approval of a complementary cash dividend for a gross amount of 0.095 euros per share.
Consequently, the total cash dividend per share charged to 2023 results will be 17.6 euro cents, which represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the cash dividend charged to the previous year.
The bank has also announced that its board of directors has agreed to implement a new share buyback program, to which it will allocate 1,459 million euros, for which it has already obtained the relevant regulatory authorization.
For its part, Almirall recorded net losses of 38.5 million euros in 2023 in contrast to profits of 4.3 million euros in 2022, as reported this Monday by the company, which explained that this result was a consequence of the impairment charges associated with the carrying value of the oral acne antibiotic Seysara.
In Europe, the GDP growth of France, the second largest economy in the euro zone, will be 1% in 2024, four tenths below what was previously expected as a consequence of the complex geopolitical environment, as well as the slowdown in China and the recession in Germany.
In this context, Grifols led the Ibex 35, with an increase of 2.12% towards the mid-session. They were followed by Telefónica (1.66%), Repsol (1.58%), CaixaBank (1.46%), Banco Santander (1.31%) and Unicaja (0.89%).
On the opposite side were ArcelorMittal (-2.13%), Acerinox (-1.94%), Solaria (-1.70%), Fluidra (-1.59%), Acciona Energía (-1.42%) and Naturgy (-0.87%).
Of the rest of the main stock indices of the Old Continent, only London registered a positive evolution towards the mid-session (0.09%). Paris fell 0.39%; Frankfurt, 0.31%; and Milan, 0.15%.
In the raw materials market, a barrel of Brent stood at $82.81, 0.79% less, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell 0.32%, to $78.94.
For its part, the yield of the 10-year Spanish convincing bond barely registered any changes, trading at 3.304% compared to 3.302% on Friday. In this way, the risk premium against German debt fell by one tenth, to 89.9 basis points.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro was trading at an exchange rate of $1.0776 for each unit of the community currency, unchanged from Friday.
