Lisbon, Sept. 12, 2024 (Lusa) - The Lisbon stock market was higher in early trading on Thursday morning, with nine PSI shares rising, led by those of Mota-Engil, up 2.76% to €2.53.
At around 9.20 a.m. in Lisbon, the benchmark PSI (Portuguese Stock Market Index) maintained its opening trend and was advancing 0.56% to 6,818.05 points, with nine shares rising and seven falling.
On Wednesday it was announced that the jury for the high-speed railway tender recommended awarding the first section to the Lusolav consortium, led by Mota-Engil and which was the only competitor to advance to the final stage of the procedure.
According to the jury's report, to which Lusa had access, the net value of the proposal exceeds €1.6 billion.
Mota-Engil's shares were followed by those of Semapa, Galp and BCP, which were up 1.53% to €14.56, 1.29% to €17.26 and 1.24% to €0.41.
EDP Renováveis and EDP were both rising by 0.44% to €15.95 and €4.12.
The other three shares that were up were Ibersol, Jerónimo Martins and Altri, which rose 0.28% to €7.26, 0.18% to €16.63 and 0.12% to €4.88.
In the opposite direction, shares in Sonae, REN and CTT were down 0.92% to €0.97, 0.61% to €2.43 and 0.56% to €4.47.
Shares in Navigator and NOS were falling 0.38% to €3.65 and 0.28% to €3.60, while those in Corticeira Amorim and Greenvolt were down 0.11% to €9.10 and 0.06% to €8.31.
The main European stock markets were up this morning, buoyed by the anticipated interest rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB), which is expected to be 25 basis points, and the release of its macroeconomic forecasts for the Eurozone.
Analysts at Renta4 quoted by Efe expect the ECB to cut interest rates by 25 basis points, while maintaining "total flexibility" as to the pace and size of the next cuts, which they expect to be gradual and dependent on data.
In total, they predict three rate cuts in 2024 and three more in 2025.
Following the release of the US inflation rate for August on Wednesday, Wall Street closed ‘green’, with a strong gain of over 2% on the Nasdaq index in a volatile session.
The US consumer price index (CPI) fell four tenths of a point to 2.5% year-on-year in August, raising the prospect that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will start cutting interest rates at next week's meeting.
In Spain it was confirmed that the CPI fell to 2.3% year-on-year in August.
A barrel of Brent oil for November delivery opened higher today, at US$71.57 on London's Intercontinental Exchange Futures (ICE), compared to US$70.61 on Wednesday.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro opened weaker on the Frankfurt exchange, at US$ 1.1013, compared to US$ 1.1016 in the previous session.
MC/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
