The first half of 2018 ended with falls, following the market rally at the start of the year which was buoyed by confidence stemming from the positive impact of the tax reform approved in the US.

The main causes of stock market volatility included concerns over Italy's new government and political uncertainty in Brazil; rising trade tension due to the protectionist measures imposed by the US and the possible impact on the economy; and fears of a slowdown in global growth.

Also, the Fed continued to pursue its monetary normalisation policy, raising interest rates by 25 bps while the ECB announced the end of its Quantitative Easing (QE) programme and is expected to hike up rates next summer.

Santander shares closed the first half of 2018 at EUR 4.59 per share, down 16.2% year to date. This is similar to the leading European banking indices where the Euro Stoxx Banks and the Stoxx Banks fell 15.4% and 12.4%, respectively; Spain's Ibex 35 was down 4.2%; and the DJ Stoxx 50 and MSCI World Banks shed 4.2% and 8.8%, respectively.

Generalised downturn in total shareholder return: Santander (-14.4%), Euro Stoxx Banks (-12.8%), Stoxx Banks, (-9.8%), Ibex 35 (-2.1%), DJ Stoxx 50 (-1.6%) and MSCI World Banks (-7.0%).

On 29 June, Banco Santander was the number one bank in the Eurozone and the fifteenth-largest bank in the world by market cap – at EUR 74,097 million. Santander stock had a weighting of 2.1% in the DJ Stoxx 50, 7.7% in the DJ Stoxx Banks index, and 15.0% in the Spanish Ibex 35 index.

10,905 million Santander shares were traded during the first half of the year for a cash amount of EUR 59,418 million, the highest volume among the EuroStoxx, with a liquidity ratio of 68%. 86.5 million shares were traded daily, for a cash amount of EUR 472 million.