The IBEX 35 lost 2.37% in the middle of the session, down to 7,463 points. The biggest falls are for Grifols, of almost 8% at 7.9160 euros.

The plasma derivatives company faces a possible millionaire fine for breach of the privacy law in the US.

It is followed by Fluidra, which yields 5.90%, and Ferrovial, which drops more than 5%. No value in green, the ones that fell the least were Siemens-Gamesa, 0.08%, and Red Eléctrica and ArcelorMittal, which lost close to 1%.

Banco Santander has reported through the CNMV this morning that they intend to launch an offer (which will be a compulsory takeover bid in terms of article 108 of the Securities Market Law) for 3.76% of the non-controlling capital of Santander Mexico. After its acquisition, Banco Santander’s intention is to exclude the stock market subsidiary, which jumped to the floor a decade ago.

Without leaving the financial sector, the credit rating agency S&P Global Ratings has raised Banco Sabadell’s rating as a long-term debt issuer to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB-‘, while the rating as a short-term issuer has been raised to ‘A-2’ from ‘A-3’ and the perspective has been set to ‘stable’.

In the Continuous Market, today investors had breakfast with the results of Direct Line. Between January and September, the insurer recorded a net profit of 58.3 million euros, due to the impact of inflation on repair costs, especially in the third quarter, and the increase in the frequency of claims due to increased mobility and in Home, which have not yet been offset by the premiums earned. Premium income amounted to 710.7 million euros, 4.1% more than in the same period of 2021, as reported to the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV).

For its part, Vidrala obtained a net attributable profit of 78.2 million euros in the first nine months of the year, which represents a decrease of 37.4% compared to the same period of 2021. The gross operating profit (Ebitda) of the glass manufacturer reached 158.9 million, a figure 30% lower than that of the same period in 2021. On the other hand, sales of soared 24% to 1,017 million euros, which at constant currency represents growth of 23.3%.

Investors should also keep an eye on OHL’s price. Its shares fell yesterday to record lows on the stock market, after plummeting about 13% despite having obtained the precautionary suspension that prevents it from paying, at least temporarily, the 21 million fine imposed by the National Commission of Markets and the Competition (CNMC) in July.

Today there is monthly maturity of derivative contracts in the Spanish market, “which always contributes to raising the volatility of cash and tends to increase trading volumes in it”, he also recalls Juan J. Fdez-Figares, Director of the Link Securites Analysis Department.

In the rest of the European markets, the DAX fell 1.47%, to 12,579.72 points, the FTSE -100 fell 0.78%, the CAC 40 lost 1.57, the EURO STOXX 50 yielded 1.53% to 3,439.25 points and the FTSE MIB lost 1.56%.

Wall Street futures also point to a lower open after the main indices closed lower yesterday. “The fact that the futures of the US indices are coming down will also put pressure on the European stock markets during their opening”, recalls Juan J. Fdez-Figares. “For the rest, and on a day in which the macroeconomic agenda is very light, it will be the business results and the political events in the United Kingdom, where the chaos caused by the resignation of Truss continues, the factors that will focus the attention of investors”, points out the Link Securities expert.

To sour things a little more, yesterday the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Patrick Harker, warned that to fight inflation, the US Federal Reserve is trying to slow down the economy and will continue to raise its rate target short term.

The Fed will hold its next monetary policy meeting in early November, while the ECB’s meeting is next week.

In the early European morning, Asian stock markets have also traded mostly lower in an environment in which investors had to weigh the inflation data from several economies. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.43% to 26,890 points. The Japanese yen weakened further to 150.39, after breaking above 150 against the dollar on Thursday.

The dollar also rises again against the euro; the currency cross is at $0.9741 for each single currency.

As for oil prices, they remain almost flat this Friday, as market participants weigh concerns about strong inflation with optimism that energy demand in China could increase.

Benchmark European Brent Oil Futures are trading at $92.28 a barrel, while US West Texas is trading at $84.34 a barrel. Brent was headed for a weekly gain of 0.7%, while WTI was expected to fall 1.3%.

Beijing is studying the possibility of reducing the quarantine period for visitors to seven days from 10 days, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. China, the world’s biggest crude importer, has adhered to tight Covid-19 restrictions this year, weighing on business and economic activity, reducing demand for the fuel.

In the fixed income markets, the Spanish risk premium dawns at 114.40 points, with the Spanish ten-year debt bond offering a return of 3.62%, for the 2.48% paid by the German bund at the same term. Across the Atlantic, the benchmark US bond offers a yield of 4.27%, increasingly above the 4% threshold that had not been reached in a decade.