The Ibex 35 kicked off Friday with a modest rise, advancing about 0.59 percent. This push helped the index reclaim the important mental milestone near 9 thousand points, landing around 9 015.69 as the session began. Investors faced a day shaped by uncertainty from the Israel and Hamas conflict and the release of Spanish corporate earnings and quarterly GDP data, which colored the mood across markets.
Before the bell, CaixaBank shared a strong nine month performance with the market regulator, CNMV. The bank reported net profit of 3.659 billion euros, up from 2.469 billion in the same period last year, marking an increase of 48.2 percent. The result underscored CaixaBank’s improving profitability and its ability to translate interest income and fees into a healthier bottom line amid a shifting macro environment.
In another major development, the airline group IAG posted an after tax profit of 2.151 billion euros for the period, nearly thirteen times higher than a year earlier. The surge highlighted the rebound in travel demand as capacity constraints eased and pricing recovered, lifting sentiment for the travel and transport sectors. Mapfre also released figures to the CNMV, noting that the disruption in the United Kingdom generated an extraordinary impact. Despite this, the insurer reported a first nine month profit of 470.6 million euros, which was slightly softer than the prior year by about 3.6 percent, reflecting ongoing challenges in the insurance landscape and changes in exposure to different markets.
On the macro front, Spain opened the day with fresh GDP data for the third quarter. The economy expanded by 0.3 percent, a notch slower than the prior quarter. The year over year pace eased from two percent to 1.8 percent, a shift attributed to a softer domestic demand impulse. The results painted a picture of steady growth but with signs of cooling momentum that Europe watchers had anticipated amid global headwinds and domestic headwinds alike.
During the early trading hours, stock leaders showed mixed momentum within the Ibex 35. Among the top gainers were IAG, up around 3.19 percent, Banco Sabadell climbing roughly 2.58 percent, and CaixaBank adding about 2.02 percent. Conversely, the weakest performers included Fluidra, which slipped about 2.56 percent, along with Inditex and Iberdrola, which added more modest declines of roughly 0.57 percent and 0.38 percent respectively. The varied moves underscored the uneven rotation across sectors as investors weighed earnings signals against macro uncertainties and sector-specific dynamics.
Across Europe, equity markets opened with a mixed tone. Milan edged higher by a small margin, while Paris, Frankfurt, and London posted slight declines. The divergence among major indices reflected a broad array of factors in play, including domestic policy outlooks, corporate earnings, and geopolitical tensions that continue to influence risk appetite and capital flows across the region.
Commodity markets opened the session with Brent crude trading above 89 dollars per barrel, marking a gain of about 1.56 percent as traders weighed Middle East tensions, ongoing uncertainty in relation to Iran, and broader supply considerations from Russia and Saudi Arabia. In the United States, the price for Texas intermediate crude also rose by about 1.62 percent, trading near 84.56 dollars per barrel, a sign of sustained demand and the market’s sensitivity to geopolitical risk. These energy moves added another layer of complexity for investors managing inflation and growth expectations, particularly in Europe where energy costs have a pronounced impact on consumer prices and industrial activity.
In currency terms, the euro was quoted around 1.0554 U.S. dollars in early trading. Spain’s risk premium hovered near 111.5 basis points, while the 10-year Spanish government bond yielded about 3.949 percent, reflecting the prevailing balance between fiscal stability and the need to attract capital in a cautious environment. These indicators provided a snapshot of the financing conditions facing Spanish issuers and the broader euro area as it navigates a period of monetary policy normalization and global uncertainty.