Ibex 35 Opens Higher as Madrid Index Holds Ground at 8,400 Points
The Ibex 35 began the session with a modest gain of 0.12 percent, keeping the Madrid index close to the 8,400-point level. Specifically, the benchmark opened around 8,444 points after finishing with eleven straight advances in the prior trading day.
Following the publication of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting, investors in Europe eyed a batch of macroeconomic data. Key references expected for today included the euro area consumer price index and the latest US weekly jobless claims figures. Market participants signalled a preference for gradual rate hikes to prevent excessive tightening, a stance attributed to ongoing Fed messaging.
Across Europe, trading on Thursday showed mixed sentiment. Paris edged near flat, London dipped about 0.2 percent, while Frankfurt inched higher by around 0.1 percent.
Within the Ibex 35, the early movers included Grifols, Merlin Properties, and Repsol, each posting gains of about 0.7 percent. Colonial and Iberdrola followed closely with increases of roughly 0.6 percent as the morning session progressed.
On the downside, ArcelorMittal slipped around 0.6 percent, with Cellnex and Naturgy off about 0.5 percent and 0.4 percent respectively. PharmaMar and Indra also traded lower, each down roughly 0.2 percent at the market open.
In commodity markets, the opening levels for European trading showed a softer tone for crude. The Brent benchmark slipped about 0.3 percent, drifting to around 93.31 dollars per barrel. WTI, the Texas variant, fell a little more than 0.4 percent, trading near 87.73 dollars per barrel as trading commenced.
Foreign exchange activity reflected a quiet session for the euro, which softened slightly against the dollar to near 1.0155. The debt market kept a cautious tone with the risk premium hovering around 113 basis points, while Spain’s 10-year government bond yield rose to about 2.285 percent as trading began.
Overall, traders watched how European equities would respond to the evolving U.S. macro narrative and the latest commodity price signals. The day promised a blend of cautious gains in some stocks and modest pressure in others, underscoring the sensitive balance between global growth indicators, central bank expectations, and value moves in energy and financials.