The Ibex 35 opened the session on Friday, the last trading day of the week, showing a 0.56% gain to reach 10,709.7 points. The day was shaped by the release of Spain’s definitive March inflation data and by the European Central Bank’s decision yesterday to keep interest rates at 4.50%.
The session began with the Consumer Price Index rising 0.8% in March from February, lifting the annual rate four tenths to 3.2%. The rise was driven by electricity prices following the VAT increase on electricity, higher fuel costs, and more expensive tour packages, all rising alongside Holy Week, according to definitive data from the National Statistics Institute.
Also reported was the United Kingdom’s GDP growing 0.1% in February from January, down from 0.3% in the previous month, a sign that the second-largest European economy may emerge from recession, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Investors will also watch the Ecofin meeting, the final eurozone CPI estimate, and the start of the US earnings season, with major investment banks scheduled to report their results.
On the corporate front, Telefónica held its general shareholders meeting, proposing a long-term incentive plan granting shares to group executives with a maximum value of 200 million euros. CaixaBank, meanwhile, has completed 48.54% of its share buyback program in the four weeks since it began on March 14, with a total program size of 500 million euros, according to information given to the market regulator.
In early trading, the greatest gains within the Ibex 35 went to IAG, up 1.77%; Grifols, up 1.70%; Unicaja Banco, up 1.41%; Solaria, up 1.24%; and ArcelorMittal, up 1.21%. The red lanterns were Banco Sabadell, down 1.26%; Naturgy, down 0.29%; and Indra, down 0.22%.
Major European stock exchanges opened higher on Friday, with Paris up 0.94%, Frankfurt up 0.94%, Milan rising 0.88%, and London gaining 0.8%—a broadly positive start for the continent’s markets.
At the market open, Brent crude, the European benchmark, climbed 0.77% to 90.43 dollars per barrel, while Texas Light crude stood at 85.81 dollars, up 0.93%.
The euro traded at 1.0712 dollars, while the yield on Spain’s 10-year bond rose to 3.276% in the debt market.
The global energy and currency moves come as investors digest central bank signals, domestic inflation data, and early earnings reports, all of which shape expectations for monetary policy and growth in the near term.