The arrival of spring not only brings the time change and milder temperatures. For investors in the Spanish stock market, it is the starting gun for the most lucrative period of the year. In 2025, the Ibex-35 reaffirmed itself as the one with the most generous remuneration in the Old Continent. According to the latest market data, the Spanish selective index leads dividend yield in Europe, thus breaking its own record of payments in a year marked by the strength of business results.

The Spanish stock market opened this Wednesday with a 0.67% drop in its benchmark index, the Ibex 35, amid the geopolitical and economic uncertainty caused by the joint US-Israeli offensive against Iran, and the day after US President Donald Trump threatened sanctions against the Spanish state for its stance against the war and for refusing to cede the use of military bases. However, throughout the day, the benchmark Spanish index corrected its trend and ended up rebounding 2.49%, closing the session at 17,487 points. This year, the index has already lost 1.92%. On Tuesday, the Ibex 35 closed at 17,062.40 points, after falling 4.55% in a dismal day, in which all stocks declined except for the oil company Repsol, which managed to rise 3.29% thanks to the boost from higher oil prices. This Wednesday, the stocks reversed, and Repsol was one of the few to fall (-2.85%), along with Enagás (-0.72%). These are two of the companies that have benefited most from the conflict in the Persian Gulf due to the increased price of natural gas and oil. In fact, Repsol had led the few gains on the Spanish continuous market on both Monday and Tuesday. At the other end of the spectrum, tourism sector stocks stood out, such as Amadeus (+5.56%) and IAG (+4.32%). Major banks also led the gains in this midweek session, with BBVA (+4.26%) and Santander (+3.88%) being the most prominent. Similarly, some of the worst-performing stocks on Tuesday closed the last session among the top performers, such as ArcelorMittal (+4.96%) and Acerinox (+5.35%). Renewable energy companies Acciona Energía (+4.23%) and Solaria (+4.90%) also saw gains. The Ibex 35's gains followed the trend of the rest of the European markets, where there was also some rebound after two days of declines. Specifically, Frankfurt and Milan were trading more than 1.4% higher, Paris was up 1%, and London 0.7%. Wall Street also showed an upward trend at the close of European markets.

The GIP fund, owned by the US investment giant BlackRock, has decided to exit its stake in Naturgy. The group has announced an accelerated placement on the market of 11.4% of the gas company's capital, which, at Monday's closing price, amounts to more than €2.955 billion. With this operation, carried out by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, the restructuring of the energy company's capital is complete. Criteria, the investment arm of La Caixa, remains in first place, with more than 25.98% of the shares, followed by CVC, with 18.8%, and the Australian fund IFM, with 15.16%. The transaction is being carried out through a rapid process whereby the placement banks solicit orders from large institutional investors within a few hours to fully subscribe the shares. Last December, GIP III Canary, the fund holding the stake, already had reduced its stake in Naturgy through an initial accelerated placement of approximately 7.1% of the capital. It then sold at a price of €24.75 per share. Following this operation, the vehicle held 11.4% of the gas company's capital, subject to a commitment to maintain (lock-up(in financial jargon) of 90 days. This Monday, Naturgy was one of the few stocks that rose on the Spanish stock exchange, with a 1.37% increase to €26.70.

Just over a year ago, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ana Botín, president of Banco Santander, praised Donald Trump's stance: "We greatly value his focus on deregulation and reducing bureaucracy." The US president responded by stating that he was familiar with the financial institution and even congratulated her: "You have done an excellent job."

BBVA – which has accelerated shareholder payouts after The takeover bid for Banc Sabadell failed– has been among the last to increase its share buyback programs, by an amount of nearly €4 billion, the largest in the company's history. With this latest operation, share buybacks by the major Spanish companies in the Ibex 35 will exceed €14 billion this year, at the same levels as the previous year, maintaining the upward trend of this shareholder remuneration method.

A common phrase among many investors is that "you always win in the stock market." This statement is far from the truth. No one can predict the price of a stock in the next second, let alone what will happen in the long term. However, there are several factors to consider when analyzing this idea.

Recent months have seen a bullish rally for the European stock market, and in the case of the Spanish stock market, the Ibex 35—the main Spanish index that groups the 35 most powerful companies—has been the subject of several headlines suggesting that the index was approaching its all-time high. This Friday, the index closed a weak week: it closed again below the 15,000 points it had managed to recover in August, remaining at 14,850.9. However, the index has accumulated growth of more than 30% in the last year (from August to August), and a 112% increase in the last five years, following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Israel's attack on Iran early Friday morning did not go unnoticed by oil or the stock markets, as is typical whenever the conflict in the Middle East escalates. The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil soared by more than 10%, and the main European markets opened Friday's session with declines, which consolidated at the end of the session. European markets closed down around 1%. In contrast, gold hit monthly highs because investors see it as a safe haven.

Wall Street's main indices suffered widespread declines on Thursday, following Wednesday's sudden surge following US President Donald Trump's decision to temporarily halt heavy tariffs in dozens of countries and focus solely on China.

Reciprocal tariffs for all countries (except Russia and North Korea), even for an island where there are only penguinsThis is the economic news of the week and surely the one that has had the greatest global impact since Covid-19. However, The world's stock markets have reacted with sharp falls, the strongest since the pandemic, as they forecast a reduction in global consumption due to trade barriers.

Fear has taken hold in the stock markets. The declines experienced by the indexes, which began on Thursday in the US and have spread across the globe, reveal that no one expected US President Donald Trump to dare to play with fire in a manner that has little to do with economic rationality. The day after the delirious announcement of tariffs by the leader of the world's leading power, investors, far from calming down, have become even more nervous. And we'll see if Monday continues a situation that, in the worst-case scenario, would turn into panic.

European stock markets have deepened their losses this Friday aftera Thursday marked by red numbers in reaction to the wave of tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump. Stock markets around the world have seen another day of declines due to fears of a recession in the US and across the global economy caused by the new trade war.

"We've never been there before." This was the response of Criteria's CEO, Àngel Simón, when asked about the return of the company's headquarters—and its parent company, the La Caixa Foundation—to Catalonia. His response to a journalist from Madrid, at an event organized by the financial daily Expansion, from the Unidad Editorial group. An intense event, opened by the mayor of Barcelona, ​​the socialist Jaume Collboni, and closed by the president of the Generalitat, the also socialist Salvador Illa, and which featured a large presence of Catalan business leaders, but also representatives of the Ibex 35, something not seen for some time in Barcelona.

When we invest in the stock market we are taking a risk and we are aware that we can lose money, but we never like to see it. In the last two months, most of the world's stock markets have been bearish, with the rare exception of the Ibex 35, which, due to the weight of the banks, has been spared from the world's economic problems. Trump and his policies of fighting with everyone have caused instability in the markets.

The companies that are part of the Spanish stock market index, the Ibex 35, closed 2024 together exceeding for the first time the parity required by law, of at least 40% of women in the highest executive bodies, according to the XIII Report on Women on the Boards of Directors of the Ibex 35 and the VIII X-ray of the continuous market, which are prepared annually by the consultancy firm Atrevia and the Iese business school. Of the 35 companies in the index, 25 meet the objective, but there are 10 that do not, including four Catalan companies: Naturgy, Fluidra, Puig and Grifols. Solaria, Ferrovial, Telefónica, Sacyr and Acerinox also do not reach 40%.

For the eight listed companies of Catalan origin in the Ibex 35, 2024 was not a bad year. All of them improved the results obtained in 2023, except for Naturgy, which worsened by 4%. The only one that closed the year with red numbers was Cellnex – despite reducing them a lot – and Colonial left the losses behind. However, last year what stood out among these eight companies was not the numbers, or not only, but the expansion of the family with the arrival of the fragrance company Puig, which has been listed on the Spanish selective index since July.

In case anyone was not yet sure: the management of European funds - their distribution, the speed of the procedures, the sectors that benefit, the monitoring of the projects, etc. - will be crucial to get us out of the crisis. The Catalan economy has been severely affected by the pandemic and this time, unlike the crisis of the previous decade, when everything revolved around social cuts, Europe has responded with a Keynesian approach, that is, with the injection of direct aid and credits instead of compulsory austerity.