Markets, Business & Tech Briefing: PSI Slips 0.2%, EDP Holds Up, Galp's Sines Biofuel Reactors Arrive
Friday, 10 July 2026. Lisbon drifted lower to close the week, with the PSI easing about 0.2% in a quiet, mixed session: defensive utility EDP and telecom NOS were the standouts on the upside, while the paper-and-pulp complex and postal operator CTT led a shallow retreat and Galp and the banks barely moved. Portuguese borrowing costs ticked lower and the euro held firm. Below: the session's shape and who drove it, why the spread over Germany still sits near its tightest in years, and two corporate stories worth watching — the arrival of the reactors for Galp's new biofuels unit at Sines, and Sweden's Atlas Copco buying a Porto compressed-air specialist.
Where the market stands
Portugal's benchmark PSI closed Friday at around 9,107 points, down about 0.19%, or roughly 17 points, a subdued end to the week in which decliners modestly outnumbered gainers. The move barely dents the longer trend: the index is still up about 0.9% over the past month and close to 18% over the past year. The two bright spots were defensive: EDP — Energias de Portugal (Energy of Portugal) rose about 0.7% — the day's best blue-chip showing alongside telecom NOS, which gained a matching 0.7% — while restaurant operator Ibersol edged up about 0.2%, extending its steady grind higher after this week's share cancellation.
The drag was spread thinly across the paper-and-pulp names and a handful of cyclicals. Altri fell about 1.1% — the weakest blue chip — with fellow forestry group The Navigator Company off roughly 0.9% and holding company Semapa, Navigator's parent, down about 0.5%. Postal operator CTT — Correios de Portugal (Portugal Post) slipped around 1.0% and grid operator REN — Redes Energéticas Nacionais (National Energy Networks) eased about 0.8%. Among the heavyweights the moves were slight: grocer Jerónimo Martins dipped about 0.6%, retailer Sonae and cork group Corticeira Amorim each fell roughly 0.5%, builder Mota-Engil lost about 0.4%, and fuel group Galp and lender BCP — Banco Comercial Português (Portuguese Commercial Bank) were virtually flat, down around 0.15% apiece.
Bonds ease, the euro holds firm
In fixed income, the Portuguese 10-year yield eased to about 3.41%, down a couple of basis points on the day and unwinding a little of this week's climb. The spread over the German Bund held near its tightest reading in years, at roughly 30 to 35 basis points — a continuing sign that investors treat Portuguese debt as among the safest on the euro-zone periphery, where Lisbon now funds close to the cheapest levels in the bloc. In currencies, EUR/USD was little changed at about 1.144, holding on to a two-session advance as the dollar stayed on the back foot. Steady yields and a firm euro kept the backdrop calm, leaving the equity market to drift on stock-specific flows rather than any macro jolt.
Tech: the reactors for Galp's Sines biofuels unit arrive
A construction milestone for one of Portugal's largest energy-transition projects: the three reactors for Galp's new advanced biofuels unit have arrived at the Sines refinery. The €400 million plant — built in a 75/25 joint venture with Japan's Mitsui and backed by European Investment Bank financing — will produce up to 270,000 tonnes a year of renewable fuel, switching between renewable diesel (HVO) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made from used cooking oils and animal fats. It sits alongside a 100-megawatt green-hydrogen electrolyser, a roughly €250 million investment that will supply the process with renewable hydrogen, making the combined site a European first. Galp still expects the unit to start up during 2026; the reactor delivery keeps that timetable in view and underpins the group's pivot from crude refining toward lower-carbon fuels, even as Lisbon negotiates the separate Sines refinery merger with Spain's Moeve. Galp shares were unmoved, closing near flat.
Business: Atlas Copco buys Porto's LusoAr
On the deal front, Sweden's Atlas Copco — a global industrial group specialising in compressors and air technology — has agreed to acquire LusoAr, a Porto-region company that supplies air compressors, compressed-air installations and air-treatment systems to medium and large industrial clients. Terms were not disclosed. It is Atlas Copco's third Portuguese bolt-on in recent years and a further vote of confidence in the country's industrial base, folding an established local distributor and service network into a multinational platform. Deals of this size rarely move the market, but the steady drip of foreign acquisitions of mid-sized Portuguese engineering and services firms points to healthy underlying demand for the sector even as headline export growth cools.
The outlook
A quiet, slightly negative close leaves Lisbon roughly where it started the week, with easing yields and a firm euro offering a supportive backdrop into Monday. The questions for next week are whether the paper-and-pulp names can steady after leading Friday's decline, and whether the banks and Galp — both anchored near flat — can find a fresh catalyst as the second-quarter earnings season draws closer.
