Markets, Business & Tech Briefing: PSI Ends Week Lower, $40bn US Tech Pledge, Google's Atlantic Cable Live

Lisbon Signs Off a Losing Week

The PSI (the benchmark index of the Euronext Lisbon exchange) ended the week on the back foot, closing Friday at 9,215.11 points, down 0.40% on the day. Advancers and decliners were almost evenly split — 12 stocks rose against 11 that fell — but heavy losses in a handful of large names dragged the index lower and left it shy of its 52-week high of 9,516.43.

The closing scoreboard was lopsided. Galp Energia, the integrated oil-and-gas group, was the single biggest drag, sliding 4.44% after a soft second-quarter earnings print, while telecoms operator NOS fell 3.87% and paper-and-cement group Semapa slipped 1.43%. On the other side of the ledger, BCP (Banco Comercial Português, Portugal's largest listed bank) led the risers with a 1.71% gain, followed by restaurant-and-leisure group Ibersol at 1.62% and construction firm Teixeira Duarte at 1.04%. Losses in the telecoms, basic-materials and consumer-services sectors set the tone for the session.

In fixed income and currencies, the picture was calmer. Portugal's 10-year government bond yield held near 3.3%, keeping the risk premium over 10-year German Bunds around 60 basis points — a historically tight spread that signals markets still treat Portuguese debt as core rather than peripheral. The euro traded around $1.138 against the US dollar, little changed on the week as a firmer greenback capped any recovery.

America's $40 Billion Bet — and a New Atlantic Cable

The week's biggest strategic story for Portugal's economy came from Washington's man in Lisbon. Speaking at the launch of Google's Nuvem subsea cable — a new fibre link connecting the United States with Bermuda, the Azores and mainland Portugal — US Ambassador John Arrigo forecast that American technology investment in the country could top $40 billion by 2031. If realised, that would make Portugal Europe's leading destination for US artificial-intelligence infrastructure spending.

The pipeline is already visible in the ground. Portugal now has more than 2.6 gigawatts of data-centre capacity in development, anchored by the 1.2-gigawatt Start Campus project in Sines, which is backed by the American investment firm Davidson Kempner. The Nuvem cable adds the connectivity to match the power, positioning the country as a transatlantic gateway for cloud and AI workloads rather than merely a landing point for hyperscaler cash.

US Companies Now a €16.8 Billion Fixture

A new study underlined how deeply American capital is already woven into the Portuguese economy. The third edition of the American Companies Barometer, produced by AmCham Portugal (the American Chamber of Commerce in Portugal) with consultancy PwC, found that the United States is now Portugal's third-largest foreign investor — behind Spain and France — with a direct-investment stock of roughly €16.8 billion.

American firms account for just 7.6% of foreign companies operating in Portugal, but they punch well above that weight, concentrating in high-value sectors and creating highly qualified jobs. The barometer also flagged the digital build-out as the next leg of growth: by the end of 2026 Portugal is expected to host 20 submarine cable systems, infrastructure the study estimates could underpin more than €10.3 billion in associated technology investment. Managers cited market competitiveness, regulatory complexity and the fight for talent as the main obstacles to converting that potential.

Madeira Lines Up a Micro-Enterprise Boost

Away from the mainland, the Madeira regional government said it would launch a new incentive scheme aimed at the island's micro-enterprises, which make up the overwhelming majority of its business base. The support is designed to help the smallest firms — typically family-run shops, restaurants and service providers — absorb rising costs and invest, a reminder that the digital-economy headlines sit alongside a domestic economy still dominated by very small businesses.

The Week Ahead

With no session until Monday, direction will hinge on whether energy and retail can steady after a bruising Friday. A Middle-East-driven spike in oil prices — enough to push diesel back above €2 a litre at the pumps — will keep Galp and refining margins in focus, while the rolling wave of first-half corporate results remains the main swing factor for the tape.