t keeps adding up. The Spanish stock market continues to relive history and this Friday the Ibex 35 has once again surpassed the symbolic barrier of 14,000 points. This emphasizes the highs reached back in 2008, during the financial crisis resulting from the Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy. Today the situation is very different, positioning the Spanish index at less than 15% from its historical highs, nearing the 16,000-point mark.
Three companies comfortably exceed 100 billion euros in market capitalization. This is the case for Inditex, Banco Santander, and Iberdrola. The banking sector is the main protagonist this year, with gains of over 50% in the first four and a half months of trading. The entity chaired by Ana Botín is trading at 2014 highs, close to surpassing the 7 euros per share mark. Its shares have risen by almost 57% this year alone, compared to BBVA's 43% increase, with a market capitalization of 77 billion euros. The electric company chaired by Ignacio Sánchez Galán has seen a 16% increase.
So far, in the week when the US and China announced their closest approach in months, European stock markets are once again aiming for historical highs. This is the case for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, where the Dax index is on the verge of surpassing 23,900 points and the Parisian Cac 40 is close to new record levels, nearing 7,900. According to investors' interpretation, the real truce on tariffs occurred between the US and China delegations last weekend in Geneva, Switzerland, committing to reduce their border tariffs from unrealistic levels of 185% and 145% to 30% and 10% in Beijing's case. However, this is a 90-day pause in a "wait and see" imposed by the Trump Administration until early July, which the market seems to have already resolved, leading to the current market highs.
It is true that the recent downturn on Wall Street, combined with the uncertainty generated by an erratic president like Donald Trump, has favored the return of capital flows to Europe. This week, following the announcement of peace with the Xi Jinping government, the S&P 500 - the main reference in US stock markets - has gained 4% and is now aiming to revalidate the historical highs seen earlier this year, above the 6,000 level. With the New York market back in positive territory for the year (something that was taken for granted in Europe), all eyes are now on the technology sector's recovery. The Nasdaq 100 alone has already recovered nearly 6% this week.
In the last month, Tesla has gained 42%, and companies like Nvidia (semiconductor companies significantly affected by tariffs) have risen by almost 30% in the US stock market. The electric car company led by Elon Musk had lost almost half of its market value during the worst moments of Donald Trump's presidency when he had not even been in office for 90 days. However, the annual balance remains very negative for the sector. Giants like Apple, Alphabet, or Amazon are still in the negative in 2025, with losses ranging from 15% to 6%. This is also the case for Tesla, which is still down by 15%, while Nvidia is the only major company in positive territory this year.