Spanish stock market leads European plunge amid fears of no-deal Brexit

Amid a generalized plunge of European shares over no-deal Brexit fears and China-US trade talks, it was the Spanish stock market that took the biggest hit on Tuesday.

The Ibex 35 dropped under the 9,000-point mark for the first time since February

The Ibex 35 gave up 2.48%, dropping under the 9,000-point mark for the first time since February and making Tuesday its worst day so far this year. Frankfurt and Paris also retreated significantly, while London did so to a lesser degree.

These losses come after US President Donald Trump issued new warnings to China over a trade deal, and concern grew over the future relationship between Britain and the European Union.

The continent’s main stock exchanges closed down after the UK’s new prime minister, Boris Johnson, continued to warn about the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. This announcement led to the pound’s biggest monthly drop since late 2016, closing on Tuesday at 1.09 against the euro.

The Spanish blue-chip index slid to 8,986.6 points, partly also because of emerging news about the country’s second-biggest bank, BBVA.

IAG, the parent company of Iberia, British Airways, Vueling and Aer Lingus, shed 5.96% on Tuesday, to become the Ibex 35’s second worst-performing share yesterday. The company is currently immersed in a complicated process to prove to EU authorities that Iberia is a Spanish company and avoid the risks of a no-deal Brexit.

Banco Santander, which does a lot of business in the UK, also experienced a bad day with losses of 3.71%. And Banco Sabadell, which also operates in Britain, gave up 3.37% on a day when every single listed share on the Ibex 35 closed in the red. Only Indra and Grifols managed to keep their losses below 1%.

The worst performer with losses of up to 17.65% was Siemens Gamesa, although it had little to do with the global outlook. Instead, the plunge followed an announcement by the multinational wind turbine maker that its earnings margin was below the forecast figure.

English version by Susana Urra.