BBVA Research | Covi-19 jolts equities and sovereign yields again as mounting coronavirus cases outside China dashed hopes that the outbreak had been contained. U.S. Treasury 10Yyield hit historic lows, dropping below 1.30%. Elsewhere, the WHO stated that the covid-19 has the potential to become a pandemic, while the U.S. warned not to travel to Spain to avoid potential dangers.
Microsoft and Telefónica have agreed to expand their global strategic collaboration to accelerate their customers’ digital transformation. As part of this collaboration, the US company will open a Data Centre in Spain that will take advantage of Telefónica’s infrastructure, which in turn will accelerate the use of Microsoft’s cloud internally.
CdM | Today CELLNEX presented its 2019 results, with a 40% reduction of its losses, reported at 9 million euros. CELLNEX increased its revenue to more than 1 billion (EUR 1.035 billion), which is a 15% year-on-year improvement.
Endesa board of directors includes Italian members of Enel, such as the CEO of the Italian energy company, Francesco Starace, who is vice president of the Spanish company, and who, due to this plan, did not attend the meeting of the company’s governing body convened to approve the company’s last year’s results.
Stock and bond investors seem to have very different assessments of the impact of the virus: despite a pickup in realised volatility, equity markets (especially in the developed world) have reached new highs over the last couple of weeks. The VIX index rose above 17 at the end of last week, but is well below the levels seen in August 2019 in the midst of the US-China trade war (24.6) or at the end of December 2018 when recession fears gripped markets (36). Implied earnings growth rates for equities remain solidly positive, even for the MSCI Emerging Markets index (about 5% over the next year). The view from the equity market seems clear: COVID-19 is a risk but should not derail the supportive context for corporate earnings and stock prices.
The agreement between Renfe Operadora and Central Texas reached in 2019 to develop the first high speed project in the US, that will link the cities of Houston and Dallas / Fort Worth, in the State of Texas. The contract will involve a turnover of 6,000 million dollars for the Spanish railway operator, the largest industrial contract of a Spanish company abroad, along with that of the AVE to Mecca.
Equity markets tumbled worldwide following the wide spread of the coronavirus epidemic beyond China. European stocks dropped most since 2016, with Italy’s MIB index dropping 5.43%, while the declines were more contained in Asia. Elsewhere, implied volatility increased further (VIX 23+6 points).
Patrik Lang (Head Equities & Global Equity Strategy, Julius Baer) | Global financials typically outperform when purchasing managers’ indices and bond yields rise. Growing scepticism with regard to the negative interest rates and increasing chances for the beginning of tangible fiscal easing are also potential positives.
The value of the 63 transactions recorded in Spain in the area of renewable assets amounted to 23.067 billion euros in 2019, up 14% from a year earlier, according to Mergermarket data analyzed by KPMG. For the international services firm, this increase is due to the ‘boom’ in green energy in recent years, which has meant that the sector’s assets are “going through a sweet moment, whether they are in the operation or development phase and are breaking records in sales transactions.”
The credit quality of Spanish banks looks solid, despite the pull-back in reported profits. Solvency ratios sitting comfortably above requirements offer greater leeway for capital distribution and will result in higher returns, benefiting investors, says Scope Ratings. Spanish bank creditors should see the banks’ improved capital-generation capacity as a sign of strength, even if capital ratios have peaked for this cycle.