The Ibex 35 opens with a sharp drop of more than 3%, with Brent crude soaring to $107 per barrel

BarcelonaThe Spanish stock market opened sharply lower on Monday, falling 3.17%, impacted by the surge in Brent crude oil prices. It dropped below the psychological threshold of 17,000 points, settling at 16,533.4 points at 9:00 AM. This followed a new wave of attacks in the Middle East, which has caused commodity prices, such as oil and gas, to soar. Brent crude, the European benchmark, began the day with a 16% increase, reaching $107 a barrel, its highest level since July 2022.

The Ibex 35, Spain's main stock index, opened at these levels after closing the week last Friday with a 7.01% loss, its worst weekly performance in the last four years. Year-to-date losses now stand at 4.35%. In the early stages of trading, the biggest decliners on the Ibex 35 were Acerinox (-5.31%), IAG (-4.86%), Ferrovial (-4.7%), and Sacyr (-4.5%). Conversely, the only company to advance was Repsol, with a 1.01% gain, continuing its recent upward trend. The main European stock exchanges also opened lower, with Milan down 2.7%, Frankfurt down 2.33%, Paris down 2.26%, and London down 1.6%. Likewise, major Asian stock markets closed lower on Monday, with the Nikkei index in Tokyo falling sharply by 5.2%. In the currency market, the euro traded at 1.1565 against the dollar. greenbacksMeanwhile, the yield on the Spanish 10-year bond has risen to 3.463%.

Gas and oil continue to rise

In this climate of uncertainty, with the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately one-fifth of the world's oil and gas transits, crude oil prices continue to surge after accumulating a jump of over 30% last week. The price of Brent crude rose 17% to $108.30 a barrel around 9:10 a.m. this morning. During the early hours, it reached a high of $119.50. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US benchmark, climbed 13.5% to $103.20.

Likewise, the price of gas on the Dutch futures market, the European benchmark, climbed more than 15% in the early hours of Monday, to 61.40 euros per megawatt hour, although it rose almost 30% at the opening of trading.