The Ibex 35 opened the session on Thursday with a modest rise of about 0.15%, placing the Madrid benchmark near the 8,154 level as trading began around 9:01 a.m. Local markets awaited the Bank of England’s upcoming policy meeting, which was widely anticipated to feature a half-point rate increase.
In Spain, the Public Treasury outlined plans to place between 4.25 billion and 5.75 billion euros this Thursday, part of the government bond issuance for August. Investors were watching how the auction would unfold as the calendar moves through the month.
Following Wednesday’s close with a 0.5% gain, the Madrid Stock Exchange appeared to hold firm around the psychologically important 8,100 mark as the early session advanced.
Among the biggest movers in the early stages on Thursday were Solaria, up about 1.44%, followed by Aena (+1.17%), Inditex (+0.94%), BBVA (+0.70%), Amadeus (+0.53%), and Rovi (+0.50%). On the lagging side, Merlín Properties traded down roughly 7%, Indra slipped about 3.82%, Repsol declined around 0.65%, and Colonial fell around 0.46%.
Across Europe, most major indices opened higher, with gains around 0.3% overall. Frankfurt and Paris fell about 0.9% each, while London dipped marginally by roughly 0.1% at the outset.
Crude benchmarks followed suit, with Brent crude, the European reference, nudging up about 0.4% to around $97 per barrel. U.S. WTI (Texas) also advanced roughly 0.5%, trading near $91 per barrel.
The euro traded near $1.0184 against the dollar, reflecting ongoing currency market dynamics, while the risk premium hovered around 110 basis points. The yield on Spain’s 10-year government bond was approximately 1.972%, a gauge watched closely by investors seeking to gauge economic momentum and policy expectations. [Source: Market data feeds]