LONDON | By Moody’s Investors Service | Moody’s changed the outlook on Spain’s Baa3 government bond rating to stable from negative last Wednesday. Concurrently, Moody’s has affirmed Spain’s Baa3 government bond and (P)Prime-3 short-term rating.
MADRID | By Ben Sills at Reuters | Spain posted the first decline in November jobless claims since at least 1996 as economic activity stabilized after a five-year slump.
MADRID | By Alex García.
MADRID | By Jaime Santisteban at The Corner TV | Economic growth in Spain is still weak and there is a risk the EU deficit goal could be overshot as both the public debt and the unemployment rate are too high. We discuss the current outlook and necessary reforms with Chairman of The Corner and former head of the Madrid Press Association Fernando G. Urbaneja.
MADRID | By Reuters | Spain new car sales jumped 15.1 pct in November from a year earlier, car manufacturers’ association Anfac said on Monday, the third straight month of rising sales which have been boosted by subsidies.
MADRID | By Julia Pastor | Amidst their talks about economic policies and speed railway connections between Spain and France, both Mariano Rajoy and François Hollande met in Madrid on Wednesday. However, the visit bottomline is to seek for a common stance on banking supervision.
MADRID | By Fernando G. Urbaneja and Julia Pastor | Repsol is a “rara avis”, a private and listed firm, with public shareholders and indirectly supported by the Spanish government.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | Remember when Spain’s sovereign debt was smashing to a euro-era record high? Just 18 months ago Wall Street market makers as well as their favorite media expressed their suspicious about non-performing loans, the Spanish banks’ health, and government reforms. Pundits even talked about a Spain leaving the euro after the “Grexit”. Goldman Sachs was sure that “the worst” was yet to come and claimed that the country “should ask for a “Spailout.” But things have changed and now it’s time for the ‘mea culpa’ and the “may be it wasn’t that bad.” Investors are showing interest in Spain and headlines talk about growth, exports boom and the country getting back on its feet bank’s bailout.
THE CORNER TEAM | Madrid and Dublin celebrated cutting their bailout umbilical cord on Thursday, renouncing to extend the aid after their aid programmes will end. This means they will be able to enjoy economic, budgetary and funding conditions like most other sovereign countries. To finally fund themselves normally on the markets, without paying an extra penalty. However, there is still homework to do: in the case of Spain, the country needs restructuring its local savings banks.
NEW YORK | By JPMorgan analysts | The Spanish economy has been showing clear signs of recovery since the summer, although from very low levels and we see no time for complacency for Rajoy’s government, a risk investors are already highlighting. There are some pending structural reforms in the fiscal, legal and pension sectors, while, in the banking sector, we would encourage a final cleanup to prevent a Japanese-style downturn, regarding which the October deflation data may be a warning. In our view, a more stable legal environment is also necessary for investors in regulated sectors, where banks and utilities are likely to be most affected.