MADRID, 14 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Ibex 35 began this Thursday’s session with a decline of 0.10%, which has taken the index to 9,415 points, on a day marked by the monetary policy meeting to be held by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB).

The European monetary authority is debating between stopping its path of raising rates, after nine consecutive increases, or continuing with the monetary tightening strategy, which on this occasion could be around a quarter of a point.

Investors will also be attentive this Thursday to the evolution of the price of oil and retail sales and the new requests for unemployment benefits in the United States, a country that will experience its largest stock market listing in two years this Thursday, that of the British company Arm, owned by the Japanese conglomerate Softbank, with a valuation of more than $50 billion.

The market was also shaken early this Thursday by the announcement by Amber, a company formed by the ISQ and TDR funds, of the launch of a takeover bid for Applus at a price of 9.75 euros per share, above the 9.50 euros offered by Apollo. The announcement sent Applus shares up almost 5%, to 9.9 euros per share, above the price offered by both Amber and Apollo.

Within the Ibex 35, the only increases in the opening were recorded by Indra (0.36%) and Merlin (0.30%), while on the decline side those of Aena (-2.66%) stood out. IAG (-1.1%) and Bankinter (-0.43%).

While awaiting the ECB’s decision on interest rates, the European stock markets woke up negative today, with the exception of London, which appreciated by 0.1%. Milan fell 0.3% and Paris and Frankfurt lost almost a tenth.

At the opening of the stock market, the price of a barrel of Brent quality oil, a reference for the Old Continent, rose 0.6%, to 92.45 dollars, while Texas stood at 89.08 dollars, a 0.6% more.

In the foreign exchange market, the price of the euro against the dollar advanced to 1.0741 ‘greenbacks’, while in the debt market the interest required on the 10-year Spanish bond moderated to 3.707%.