Lisbon, Nov. 4, 2024 (Lusa) - The Lisbon stock market maintained its opening trend on Monday morning and was trading higher, with shares in EDP Renováveis and EDP up 2.39% to €12.87 and 0.82% to €3.68, respectively.
At around 9.45 a.m. in Lisbon, the benchmark PSI (Portugal Stock Index) was up 0.37% a 6,619.10 points, with five shares rising, eight falling and two remaining unchanged (Ibersol at €7.38 and REN at €2.30).
The PSI now has 15 constituent shares, after Greenvolt - Energias Renováveis was excluded following the general and obligatory takeover bid launched by a US investment fund controlled by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), who acquired 97.64% of the renewable energy company. Greenvolt's shares are still listed but were excluded from the main index last Tuesday.
Greenvolt revealed on Monday that the company's board of directors has decided to leave João Manso Neto in place as CEO, after he was charged with bribery by Portugal's Public Prosecution Service.
In a statement sent to Portugal's Securities Markets Commission (CMVM), Greenvolt said that the board had been informed of the charges against Manso Neto, related to his having exercised functions in the EDP group several years before he took up any role at Greenvolt, and that it will continue to monitor the evolution of the process.
Manso Neto, was was previously CFO of EDP, and the former CEO, António Mexia, were last week charged with bribery in the EDP/CMEC case, which also targets a former economy minister, Manuel Pinho, and other defendants.
Shares in the two EDP group companies were followed up on Monday by those in Galp, NOS and Jerónimo Martins, which rose 0.60% to €16.04, 0.14% to €3.54 and 0.11% to €18.29 respectively.
In the opposite direction, Semapa, Navigator and Altri shares fell, namely 0.83% to €14.30, 0.62% to €3.52 and 0.59% to €5.03.
More moderately, shares in BCP, Mota-Engil and Corticeira Amorim fell 0.58% to €0.46, 0.39% to €2.58 and 0.36% to €8.41.
The other two shares in the index to fall were CTT and Sonae, which fell 0.34% to €4.36 and 0.33% to €0.92.
Major European stock markets were up on Monday, following last week's gains and with all eyes on Tuesday's US presidential elections, as companies continue to present their results for the first nine months of the year.
Polls in the US remain very tight between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, and analysts expect volatility to continue to increase in the financial markets.
Among the financial results released so far in Europe, Ireland-based low-cost airline Ryanair reported on Monday that it made a net profit of €1.790 billion in its fiscal first half (April-September), or 18% less than in the same period in 2023, when it earned €2.180 billion.
On Friday, Wall Street ended in the green, after a weak US jobs report had a limited impact on investors. The Dow Jones index ended the day up 0.69% at 42,052.19 points, against the all-time high of 43,275.91 points recorded on 18 October; the Nasdaq index rose 0.80% to 18,239.92 points, compared with its high of 18,712.75 points on 29 October.
In commodities, a barrel of Brent crude oil for delivery in January 2025 opened today up 2.4% at $74.86 on London's Intercontinental Exchange Futures (ICE), compared to $73.10 on Friday.
US benchmark crude oil West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose to $70.94 a barrel before the market officially opened.
Gold was down 0.13% at the opening of the market, with the price per ounce at 2,736 dollars.
On the currency front, the euro opened stronger, at $1.0892 on the Frankfurt exchange, compared to $1.0834 on Friday.
MC/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
