Ibex 35 began this Friday’s session, the final trading day of the week, with a retreat of 0.28 percent, slipping below the psychological 9,400 point level. The index touched 9,379 points during the session, a move that mirrored another day dominated by corporate earnings reports and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Investor attention was split between the latest corporate updates and the geopolitical headlines that have kept volatility elevated in global markets.
Market participants also looked ahead to remarks from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and the Ecofin meeting, where European Union finance ministers gather to discuss economic policy, inflation dynamics, and growth prospects. Lagarde’s commentary was anticipated to offer clues about monetary policy paths, inflation expectations, and how the euro area economy might navigate a still uneven recovery.
On the macro front, a batch of important releases were scheduled, with the UK publishing industrial production figures and GDP data for the latest period, while Italy would also report its industrial output. In the United States, consumer confidence data from the University of Michigan were awaited, a key gauge of household sentiment that often nudges equity markets and currency moves when it diverges from expectations.
Among the Ibex 35 constituents, early movers to the upside included Rovi, gaining 0.37 percent, followed by Cellnex with a 0.23 percent advance, Repsol up 0.22 percent and Amadeus increasing by 0.13 percent. On the downside, Colonial led losses with a 1.86 percent drop, while Acerinox fell 1.35 percent and ArcelorMittal declined 1.12 percent, reflecting a broader risk-off tone in early trade as investors evaluated sector-specific catalysts and global macro signals.
Across Europe, the major stock indices opened the session lower, signaling a cautious start to the day. London’s benchmark dipped 0.72 percent, Paris slid 0.56 percent, Milan fell 0.39 percent, and Frankfurt traded down by 0.37 percent, underscoring an across-the-board sentiment tilt toward caution in response to mixed earnings and geopolitical headlines rather than a single dominant development.
In commodity markets, the Brent crude benchmark, which serves as a key reference price for Europe, rose by 0.32 percent to $80.27 per barrel. In U.S. trading, the West Texas Intermediate level advanced 0.22 percent to $75.91 per barrel. Beyond theHeadline tensions in the Middle East, traders noted that the ongoing disruption to supply, along with geopolitical frictions involving Iran, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, was contributing to a fragile supply-demand balance that kept energy markets on edge.
Meanwhile, the euro held near 1.067 against the dollar as the foreign exchange market absorbed incoming data and policy signals. Spain’s risk premium hovered around 105.3 basis points, while the yield on the Spanish 10-year bond hovered near 3.73 percent, reflecting the maturation of risk sentiment in Southern Europe alongside broader euro-area considerations. Equity and bond markets remained finely balanced as investors weighed growth prospects, inflation trajectories, and the potential implications of policy moves from central banks and government authorities. These dynamics collectively shaped the near-term horizon for Spanish equities and the broader European market environment in the final trading sessions of the week.”