The US Federal Reserve meeting centered the stage in yesterday's session with a 25bp interest rate hike, as expected by the consensus. The description of the economic outlook was very similar to June's, while the president Jerome Powell recognized that the last CPI inflation release surprised them slightly on the positive side.
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In the first session of the week, investors continued to reassess their expectations on the upcoming easing of the ECB and Fed’s monetary policy stance. The January PMI and ISM data releases showed a stronger-than-expected start of 2024 that decreased further the probabilities of seeing the first rate cut in April and May for both central banks.
Markets were mixed in the first session of the week as investors remained cautious on the outlook of the global economy. In the euro area, sovereign bonds ended flat and the main stock indices edged lower as markets await further details on tariffs from the US. The euro area composite PMI rose to 50.4 this month from 50.2 in February.
Financial markets started the week with mixed results. Investors balanced out the risk from the COVID outbreak in Europe with the re-appointment of Jerome Powell as the next Fed president and the nomination of Lael Brainard as the next VP, signaling policy continuity at the helm of the central bank.
In yesterday's session, German bonds extended their decline, with the 10-year bund yield reaching 2.83%, and the euro appreciated against the dollar as the ECB cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.5%. President Christine Lagarde did not pre-commit to setting rates in any direction in the upcoming meetings, and warned of the uncertainty surrounding the effects of the trade war and increased defense spending.
The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 25bp to 4.25-4.50% and signaled it will slow down the pace of cuts given its upward revision to the inflation forecast for the next two years. The Fed considered that the good health of the labor market and the little progress made on inflation in the recent months gives it room to act more cautiously from now on.
In the last session of the week, investors focused their attention on the disinflationary pressures in the US, after December PPI unexpectedly declined by 0.1% m/m (-0.1% in the previous month). In this context, yields on sovereign bonds declined on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly so in the short-end of the curve.
In yesterday’s session, markets digested mixed economic data from the US. The ADP monthly employment report showed hiring at private companies grew at the slowest pace since the beginning of the year, a sign the labor market might be cooling. Instead, the sharp rise in the ISM services index from 49.4 to 53.8 pointed to a rebound in the sector.
In the last session of the week, investors' sentiment kept the upbeat tone seen on Thursday following the decrease in the October US CPI inflation figures. Money markets continued to price a lower monetary policy tightening from the ECB and the Fed than the one implied before the CPI release.
Las perspectivas de la economía española y de sus sectores de actividad son positivas. Esperamos un mayor ritmo de crecimiento para los sectores ligados a la transición digital, como las TIC y los servicios profesionales, o sectores en los que España despunta por su elevada competitividad, como el farmacéutico o el turístico.
Yesterday’s Federal Reserve meeting resulted as a nonevent for financial markets as the 25bp rate increase to the 5.00%-5.25% target range was 100% priced in. Also, the removal of an explicit reference in the press release of further interest rate increases in the coming meetings was consistent with the expectation of a pause in the hiking cycle.
La economía española afronta la primera mitad de 2026 desde una posición de solidez, aunque con señales de normalización tras el crecimiento excepcional de 2025 y bajo la amenaza de un nuevo shock internacional.
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La economía española encara 2026 desde un buen punto de partida, apoyada en la inercia positiva del sólido crecimiento registrado en 2025, el dinamismo del mercado laboral, la fortaleza de la demanda interna y una inflación relativamente contenida a pesar del shock energético. El estallido de la guerra en Irán ha introducido un nuevo shock de oferta que eleva la incertidumbre y nos obliga a revisar a la baja el crecimiento previsto del PIB para este año hasta el 2,1%, 0,3 p. p. por debajo de la previsión anterior. De todas formas, se espera que la desaceleración tenga una intensidad desigual según el sector. Las ramas manufactureras, más intensivas en energía, abiertas al exterior y con una posición cíclica más débil, serán las más afectadas. En cambio, los servicios y otras actividades ligadas a la demanda interna parten de una situación más sólida y presentan una menor exposición.
In the last session of the week, the mood was disparate in both sides of the Atlantic. In Europe, losses in the main stock markets were moderate and broad-based, while in the U.S., the S&P 500 bounced back from the losses registered on previous days.
In the last session of the week, investors weighed concerns on rising COVID cases with another pickup in CPI inflation in the US (headline at 6.8%, highest since 1982, and core at 4.9%). Despite these high figures, the release was broadly in line with the consensus and it did not change investors' expectations for the Fed's first interest rate hike.
Markets ended the week mixed. Sovereign yields were broadly stable on both sides of the Atlantic, with curves steepening slightly. In the US, short-term yields declined despite hawkish Fed commentary opposing further rate cuts. In the eurozone, October CPI came broadly in line with expectations (although core inflation surprised slightly to the upside). Very long-term yields rose following the French parliament’s rejection of a wealth tax proposal, which also widened the French spread.
España ha experimentado en los últimos años un aumento sostenido del emprendimiento empresarial, alcanzando su nivel más alto desde 2012. Sin embargo, la creación de empresas sigue situándose por debajo de la media europea y persisten importantes desafíos estructurales: una elevada mortalidad temprana de las nuevas empresas, una fuerte concentración geográfica del emprendimiento y una escasa orientación hacia sectores de alto valor añadido. Pese a estas debilidades, emergen señales alentadoras en los sectores vinculados a la digitalización y la economía 4.0. El gran reto consiste en aprovechar este foco de dinamismo para lograr que más proyectos sobrevivan, se consoliden y se orienten hacia sectores de mayor productividad, de modo que todo ello se traduzca en un crecimiento económico más sólido, equilibrado y duradero.
El actual conflicto bélico entre Irán, EE. UU. e Israel constituye un nuevo shock de oferta que vuelve a tensionar las cadenas globales de valor. Este episodio se suma a otras disrupciones recientes que ha sufrido el comercio mundial, como la política arancelaria de la Administración Trump, la crisis energética desencadenada tras la invasión rusa de Ucrania y la pandemia de la COVID-19. Asimismo, refuerza la necesidad de diversificar los mercados de aprovisionamiento, evitando grandes dependencias unilaterales, y de avanzar hacia una mayor capacidad productiva europea. Este mensaje cobra especial relevancia en ámbitos estratégicos para el crecimiento a medio y largo plazo, como la tecnología, la salud, la defensa y la doble transición verde y digital.