From the annual maximum of 10,083 points marked by the Ibex on February 19, 2020, it fell to a minimum of 6,107 points on March 16.
Since some cases related to the coronavirus were confirmed at the end of February 2020, the Spanish stock index was severely punished, in line with the rest of the world's stock markets. It was no longer just a health problem in Asia, but Europe received dramatic news with the first deaths in Italy from covid-19.
On February 19, the Spanish indicator marked 10,083 points, the date from which there was a prolonged fall throughout the following month, down to 6,107 points on March 16. Thus, it set its minimum for the year and represented a decrease of 39.43% in relation to the annual maximum of 10,083 points registered the previous month.
It must be remembered that just a couple of days before, on March 14, 2020, the Spanish Government had decreed a state of alarm, which came hand in hand with restrictions and confinement throughout the national territory. In about a year, with data from March 8, 2021, the Ibex 35 registered one of the highest values of the year, standing at 8,446 points.
The progressive recovery of Ibex values, which in just half a year regained half of their value, was mainly due to the economic injections made by the central banks to calm the markets. This measure led to an immediate increase in shares at a time when production, logistics, and face-to-face sales were practically at a standstill.
The global pandemic ended the tranquility in the stock market that was experienced in 2019, a year in which the main indices around the world grew to a greater or lesser extent. In the case of the Ibex 35, the one that achieved the least profitability of the most important indicators, its growth was 11.82%.
Most affected sectors
Not all stocks have been affected equally since the coronavirus outbreak began in Wuhan, China. In this health and economic crisis, the values that have suffered the most on the stock market have been those related to tourism and bank securities. The hotel industry, the airlines, and the ticket reservation companies were the most affected by covid-19.
A global pandemic of these characteristics generates constant concern about possible outbreaks or when the economic recovery will occur. There are many sectors that are suffering a substantial drop in their sales and many people are in process of reducing their working hours or employment. The stock market crisis that originated after the appearance of the coronavirus is not a real mirror of the existing labor crisis.
In this sense, the evolution of the stock market will continue to be uncertain in the future, since it will be linked to health, economic and social recovery. Speculation on the stock market, in times of low-interest rates and liquidity injections, will cause securities to continue to increase their price, although the effects on the economy and in the workplace will hardly be noticed in the short term.
