European stock exchanges recovered optimism throughout the afternoon and closed the session without a single direction. While the euro area indices closed in positive territory, the markets in Madrid, Milan and London ended with slight losses. Lisbon was the big exception of the day, with the PSI-20 standing out as the most active index on the Old Continent, rising 0.66%, to 9,481.29 points.
Construction companies led the gains in Lisbon: Mota-Engil advanced 5.42%, to 5.075 euros, followed by Teixeira Duarte, which gained 2.19%, to 0.4895 euros. Galp Energia also had a strong day, rising 1.79%, to 21.09 euros, in a session marked by statements from Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, who said the Government is closely monitoring negotiations between the oil company and the Spanish Moeve about a possible combination of their filling stations and refineries of the two companies on the Iberian Peninsula.
Also helping Galp was the rise in the Brent barrel, which closed up 0.53%, at 97.51 dollars, approaching 100 dollars. In the rest of the PSI, Jerónimo Martins gained 1.71%, to 18.42 euros, BCP rose 0.91% and EDP advanced 1.15%. In the opposite direction, EDP Renováveis fell 1.71% and Sonae declined 0.49%.
The market is now looking to Thursday, when the European Central Bank announces its monetary policy decisions, with the market taking as certain a 25 basis point rate hike for the Eurozone. The geopolitical context, with the persistence of tension in the Middle East and concerns about energy supply, continues to deserve investors' attention.
