The Ibex 35 reached the desired milestone of 12,000 points and fifteen-year highs, pushed by the 4.1% increase that our country’s reference index accumulates in the last month of 2024. And, despite the expectations that the relief of the small caps as the favorites of investors, at the moment they are the large capitalized ones those that see the largest purchases of shares in the Spanish stock market in these last days of the year. All this if the president of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, meets what the market expects: a new interest rate cut before 2025.
The index that tracks small caps, the Ibex Small Cap, a slight drop of 0.1% is recorded so far in December. On the other hand, medium-sized companies are left half way between both indices, with an increase of 1.4% in the monthly balance of the last month of 2024.
The European Central Bank has its last meeting of the year scheduled for Thursday, December 12, in which it will decide whether to change monetary policy in the eurozone again. A priori, the market takes it as more than certain that another cut of 25 basis points will be announced, based on OIS financial assets (overnight indexed swaps). And with the rate cuts, small and medium capitalized companies tend to be favored over big capsby reducing financing costs and taking for granted that the economy will encounter fewer obstacles to growth in a scenario of monetary flexibility.
Since the beginning of 2024, analysts have been eagerly awaiting changes in monetary policy so that this investment migration can finally occur. But, although the central bank takes three cuts in the price of money, the rotation in favor of the small caps It has not completely taken off in Spain. In the year, the small caps They advance only 0.2%, compared to the almost 20% recorded by the Spanish reference index. Even so, the certainty that the ECB will continue with this line of cuts leaves a positive outlook for these small companies.
Something similar is also happening on the other side of the Atlantic, at the European closing this Thursday, the selective Smaller US companies fell almost 1% in December, compared to Wall Street’s main benchmark, the S&P 500, which remained practically flat at the end of the European session. But, in November, the Russell 2000 led the rise, as it advanced up to 11% driven by Trump’s resounding victory, compared to 6% for the S&P 500, given the Republican’s promises of reindustrialization of the US.
#large #Ibex #push #increases #December #small #caps #remain
