In a year like 2025, with record stock market gains, the main executives of the Ibex companies, the main benchmark of the Spanish equity market, overwhelmingly earned very significant incomes, further widening the gap with the average earnings of their staff. The link between remuneration and stock performance contributed to boosting the incomes of many senior executives. A clear example was Manuel Manrique, president of Sacyr, who topped the rankings by earning 32.6 million euros, 384.59% more than the previous year, thanks to a bonus for the company's stock market rise since the pandemic. As a consequence of this plan, this executive, one of the founders of Sacyr, multiplied his remuneration of around 6.7 million from 2022, 2023, and 2024. The fact is that Manrique's remuneration was 628 times the average earned by the company's staff, which is around 52,000 euros, according to the directors' remuneration report published by this company.

The tension around the war with Iran has once again shaken energy markets and driven the price of oil above 110 dollars a barrel. After Donald Trump's speech, in which he avoided specifying when the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened, investors reacted nervously and accelerated crude oil purchases. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), a benchmark in the United States, has climbed above this threshold —the highest level since March 9— and is heading for its most intense daily increase since 2020, while Brent, a benchmark in Europe, also maintains an upward trend in a context marked by geopolitical uncertainty and the risk of further supply disruptions.

The crisis in energy markets stemming from the war in the Middle East will worsen "significantly" heading into April compared to March, according to the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol. The Turkish director, who visited the podcast of Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), explained that while during the last month shipments from the Middle East were still arriving at ports, by April "there will be nothing".

The US Treasury Department announced Thursday that it will temporarily authorize the purchase of Russian oil in transit. The measure aims to curb the surge in crude oil prices, which jumped more than 9% on Thursday after several days of increases and, despite moderating the pace of the climb, continued to rise on Friday. On Friday, the price of Brent crude—the European benchmark—surfaced at over $100 a barrel. Conversely, the price of natural gas moved in the opposite direction, falling by approximately 0.60% to €50.54 per megawatt-hour (MWh) on the Dutch TTF market, which sets prices across the continent. These declines were relatively small, and gas prices rose for much of the day. With the lifting of restrictions on Russian crude, thousands of barrels will enter the market, which should contribute to a decrease—or at least a moderation of the escalating price—of oil. When it announced the embargo, President Donald Trump's administration asserted that the ban on Russian oil purchases was key to pressuring Moscow in the war in Ukraine. However, it now indicates that this temporary exemption from the restriction, which will last until April 11, will not represent a significant benefit for Russia.

The Spanish stock market closed Wednesday with a slight loss of 0.53%, at 17,351.90 points. It was another day in which investors remained focused on the conflict in the Middle East and the evolution of oil prices, but other data also played a role, such as Inditex's record results and the US inflation figure, which remained at 2.4%. The Ibex 35, Spain's main index, closed Tuesday's session with a 3.05% gain, reaching 17,445 points. In the first minutes of trading, Inditex, Spain's largest listed company, showed the strongest performance. The company founded by Amancio Ortega surged 5.11% after announcing a profit of €6.22 billion for its 2025 fiscal year, a 6% increase compared to the previous year, marking its fourth consecutive year of record results. Despite strong gains at the start of the day, the textile group closed the session with a slight increase of 0.53%. The other major European stock exchanges experienced more significant declines on Wednesday. London's FTSE 100 fell 0.56%, while Paris's CAC40 dropped 0.19%, and Frankfurt's DAX suffered the biggest loss, declining 1.59%. Asian markets, meanwhile, continued their upward trend. In Japan, the Nikkei rose 1.43%; South Korea's Kospi climbed 1.40%, and the only index to close in the red was the Hang Seng, which registered a slight decline of 0.24%. Oil is expected to remain around $90.

After closing Tuesday at $87.60 per barrel, the price of Brent crude, the European benchmark, remained around $90 on Wednesday. However, it is still far from the $118 it reached last Monday, as investors await confirmation of the de-escalation of the conflict that US President Donald Trump has been announcing for days. Nevertheless, it remains above the $72 mark it held before the attack on Iran. Meanwhile, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, the US benchmark, is above $85 per barrel.

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Donald Trump is trying to curb the soaring price of oil, fueled by fears that the Iran-Contra conflict will drag on. After seeing the price of a barrel of crude oil soar above $100—a level not seen since 2022, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine—the US president declared that the campaign "is almost over." "I think the war is almost over. They have no warships, they have no communication, they have no air force," the tycoon said on CBS. And the market has decided to take Trump's word for it: the price of a barrel of crude oil has fallen back below $90. The stock market, which had also opened with sharp declines due to the threat of an energy crisis, recovered shortly before the close of trading on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which had suffered a plunge of nearly 900 points at the start of the session, rebounded by 239. Trump knew what he was doing when he made this statement on CBS, shortly before Wall Street closed. After managing to weather another day with some damage control, the president has adopted an ambiguous stance regarding his words. In his address in Florida at the Republican Party Members' Conference, the tycoon said, "We will not stop until the enemy is completely destroyed." He also insisted that the conflict "will end very quickly."

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As every year, with March 8th, International Women's Day, approaching, we must remember all that remains to be done. In the case of the Ibex 35, equality is far from being a reality. In this regard, the percentage of female board members in companies listed on the Spanish stock exchange's benchmark index stood at 41.49% in 2025, only two-tenths of a percentage point higher than in 2024, according to data released this Friday by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). Looking at the longer term, the CNMV points out that this percentage of female participation in the Ibex 35 has increased from 3.3% in 2005 to 41.49% in 2025, representing an increase of 38.1 percentage points over the last twenty years. Furthermore, the supervisor indicated that the proportion of women in senior management positions reached 27.49% in 2025, a one-point increase compared to the previous year. If all listed companies are analyzed, the percentage of female board members grew to 38.4% in 2025, two points higher than the previous year. However, in terms of senior management positions, the proportion of women fell to 24.33%, half a point less than in 2024. Looking at the last twenty years, the percentage of female board members in listed companies has increased from 5.6% in 2005 to 38.4% in 2025, a figure that represents a 2.2% rise. The glass ceiling "shifts, but doesn't break."

The Barcelona Chamber of Commerce has also found that equality is progressing at "different speeds" and the gender pay gap remains "significant," even though women have higher levels of education, according to a study presented this Friday. The director of the Observatory for Women, Business and the Economy (ODEE), Carme Poveda, pointed out that the results allow for a "long-term view of the evolution" and demonstrate that the glass ceiling "is moving upwards, but not breaking." The study, published every two years, analyzed some thirty indicators to provide a comprehensive view of the situation of women in the economy and society, closely examining sectors such as ICT and healthcare, where inequalities remain "just as high." In the ICT and research fields, the institution expressed concern about the low percentage of women pursuing degrees in computer science or engineering, who represent only 26% of students, in addition to the low rate of female employment, at 27%.

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Concern. Top executives from Ibex companies attending the Davos Economic Forum met with the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, and the Minister of Digital Transformation, Óscar López, and conveyed their concern "about the crisis" triggered by US President Donald Trump with Europe, according to sources. This meeting in the Swiss city has been held in previous years with President Pedro Sánchez, who did not attend Davos this year due to the mourning caused by the train accident in Córdoba.

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Both Sabadell and CaixaBank were the two Catalan (or Catalan-origin) companies on the Ibex 35 that grew the most in 2025. The year was marked by strong growth in the Spanish stock market and, from a Catalan perspective, by the recovery of Grifols and the notable declines of Puig.

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The Ibex 35 closed 2025 as its best year since 1993, achieving a cumulative gain of 49.27% and remaining above 17,000 points at year-end, a historic high not previously reached by the benchmark Spanish stock index. In Wednesday's session, the last of the year, the index closed at 17,307.8 points, with a slight correction of 0.27% compared to the previous day. Despite this final negative close, the Ibex consolidated its all-time highs and finished as the "most profitable" index of 2025 in Europe. This historic milestone was achieved despite the economic and international context, marked by market volatility due to the armed conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, tensions caused by Donald Trump's trade war, and doubts about the future of artificial intelligence (AI). The worsening trade war kept markets on edge during the first half of 2025, until the first agreements were reached with its main economic partners, including the European Union. In the second half of the year, attention shifted to AI and concerns about a potential bubble and the profitability of investments in this technology. Despite the uncertainty, Wall Street also reached all-time highs, with key AI stocks soaring, such as Nvidia and Alphabet. Likewise, precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum—considered safe-haven assets—reached record highs. The weight of banking

The Ibex 35 has been driven primarily by Spanish banks, one of the sectors with the greatest weight within the index. Specifically, it is estimated that, on average, Spanish banks have achieved a return of nearly 100%, driven by the slowdown in interest rate cuts, attractive dividends, share buyback programs, and the inflow of foreign capital. In this scenario, Banco Santander, with a return of 125%, stands out as the star of the sector.

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2025 is a record-breaking year for the Spanish stock market. For the first time, five listed companies have surpassed a valuation of €100 billion. These include four companies from the Ibex 35, the country's main stock market index: Inditex (€175.218 billion), Banco Santander (€148.347 billion), Iberdrola (€122.466 billion), and BBVA (€114.055 billion). Airbus (€155.430 billion) joins them on the continuous market, a market that is setting all-time records and is one of the most profitable in the world, according to the latest report from Bolsas y Mercados (BME), the Spanish stock exchange operator. Together, these five companies represent almost half the total value of the 130 companies on the continuous market, three-quarters of which are concentrated in the Ibex 35.

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The Ibex 35, the benchmark index for the Spanish stock market, surpassed its all-time highs recorded in November 2007 on Monday, as well as the symbolic barrier of 16,000 points. The index, which groups the 35 largest listed companies in the Spanish state, is experiencing another day of gains, as are most other global markets, driven upward by the recent trade rapprochement between the United States and China.

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After announcing it at the shareholders' meeting In June, and confirmed in its first-half results presentation, Grifols has launched a dividend distribution of €102 million. This is the first dividend paid to shareholders in four years and demonstrates a "firm commitment" to creating value for those who hold shares in the company.

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The Ibex 35 has once again surpassed 15,000 points for the first time since the Great Recession. Specifically, during this Wednesday's session, the Spanish stock market surpassed this psychological barrier at various points this morning, standing at 15,019.9 points at the close of trading, representing a 1.08% rebound compared to Tuesday's close. The last time the Ibex 35 surpassed this threshold was on January 2, 2008, at the height of the Great Recession. That day, the session closed at 15,002 points.

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The companies that make up the Ibex 35, the benchmark index of the Spanish stock market, have lost almost 80 billion euros in market value in the first nine days of April due to the sharp falls experienced in stock markets around the world following the announcement of a new wave of tariffs by the President of the United States, Donald. Specifically, the Spanish index fell 10.1% in these first nine days of the month.

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