The IBEX 35 kicked off the Wednesday session with a modest 0.11% decline, hovering around the 8,303 level as investors held their breath ahead of the July inflation data from the United States. That data, due for release later in the week, follows a highly watched jobs report from the North American economy and is expected to influence sentiment across European risk assets. Traders are weighing the potential for inflation cooling against the resilience seen in other parts of the globe, and the local benchmark faced a cautious start to the day as market participants calibrate their next moves.
In a broader snapshot of the US economy, July payrolls surged by 528,000 nonfarm jobs, topping consensus estimates by a wide margin and underscoring continued strength in the labor market. The unemployment rate ticked down by a tenth, landing at 3.5%, a sign that wage growth and demand for labor remain firm. These numbers underscore the demand-side momentum in the United States and are likely to influence expectations for federal monetary policy as investors assess whether inflation will continue to cool without derailing growth.
Turning the page to yesterday, the market closed higher, rising 0.48% and reclaiming the 8,300-point threshold for the first time since June. Madrid ended the session with gains that kept the index near that psychologically important mark, even as the opening trade showed some red across core listings. The slightly positive close helps temper earlier volatility and suggests a renewed focus on earnings and macro data rather than just headline headlines.
In the early hours of this Wednesday’s session, the laggards included Amadeus, down 1.2%, followed by Rovi at 0.86% lower, Colonial at 0.7%, Acerinox slipping 0.68%, IAG off 0.5%, and Bankinter retreating 0.47%. Meanwhile, the stock picking showed resilience in Iberdrola at 0.42% in positive territory, Telefónica up 0.42%, ArcelorMittal advancing 0.41%, Sabadell rising 0.32%, and Red Eléctrica gaining 0.31%. The day’s early moves highlighted a mixed window of sector-specific pressure and pockets of buying interest as traders positioned for a busy week ahead with several catalysts on the horizon.
Across Europe, the mood was broadly constructive in early trade. The core markets opened with modest gains: Frankfurt around 0.4% higher, Paris up about 0.3%, and London marginally advancing by roughly 0.1%. The consistency of these moves points to a Europe-wide risk appetite that remains tethered to global monetary policy expectations and the continued flow of corporate earnings news from the region.
On the commodities front, Brent crude traded softer, slipping about 0.61% to around $95 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) slipped roughly 0.88%, hovering near $89. The pullback in oil prices reflects a balance between renewed supply concerns and softer near-term demand expectations, with traders parsing the latest inventory data and geopolitical headlines for clues about the crude complex’s trajectory in the coming sessions.
Finally, the currency backdrop showed the euro trading near parity with the dollar, around 1.0214, with a risk premium standing at approximately 108 basis points. The Spanish 10-year government yield stood near 2.020%, a reflection of continued appetite for eurozone sovereign debt amid a landscape of evolving inflation expectations and monetary policy signals from the European Central Bank. These macro indicators contribute to the backdrop against which equities and commodities will move as the week unfolds.