The photograph of the Spanish Stock Exchange suggests that the rating agencies are starting to rely less on the markets. After the stock market crashes of the last few days, the Madrid square has rebounded: the Ibex recovers the lost positions with a +0,93%. Bankia, the bank partly nationalized by the Spanish government and suffering from the collapse of the real estate market, begins to recover earning 20%. Santander and BBVA, the two largest banks in the country, notwithstanding the downgrade by Moody's they gain 3,67% and 4,41% respectively. Waiting for the G8 the Bonos-Bund spread also decreases at 483 basis points.
However, non-performing loans from Spanish banks continue to swell. In March they reached € 147,968 billion, equal to 8,37% of the total assets of institutions, according to data from the Banco de España, compared to 8,15% in February and 7,91% in January. To weigh on the Iberian credit institutions is their heavy exposure to the real estate sector, which has undergone a heavy downward correction in recent years.
