Volatility gripped the markets, also affecting precious metals, as investors awaited decisions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq has fallen 2.9% over the last two days, its biggest drop since October, with sharp swings among major tech stocks.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, reported solid results after the close, but unsettled the market by setting an investment target of $175 billion to $185 billion for this year, far above Wall Street estimates, amid a rout in software stocks driven by the rise of generative AI, which threatens their business.
The move into defensive stocks was also fueled by some disappointing sector results and forecasts. Advanced Micro Devices plunged 17% on Thursday after releasing its quarterly report, while attention now turns to Amazon’s results, due after the Wall Street close.
In Spain, BBVA weighed on the market after announcing that its fourth-quarter net profit rose 4.1% year-on-year, supported by results in Spain and Mexico and improved interest margins.
On the monetary calendar, Thursday’s highlights include meetings of the Bank of England (1200 GMT) and the European Central Bank (1315 GMT), with consensus expecting interest rates to remain unchanged.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, the U.S. January jobs report will not be published this Friday, but on February 11, due to the recent and brief partial government shutdown.
At 0802 GMT on Thursday, Spain’s blue-chip IBEX 35 index was down 103.00 points, or 0.57%, at 17,999.50 points, while the pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 index slipped 0.10%.
In the banking sector, losses predominated following BBVA’s poorly received results; Santander fell 0.80%, Caixabank dropped 0.74%, Sabadell declined 0.32%, Bankinter lost 0.37%, and Unicaja Banco slipped 0.14%.
Among major non-financial stocks, Telefónica retreated 0.63%, Inditex rose 2.33%, Iberdrola lost 0.29%, Cellnex fell 0.83%, and oil company Repsol dropped 0.67%.
(Reporting by Tomás Cobos, editing by Jorge Ollero Castela)
