The mountain index began the session on a cautious note with a slight 0.6 percent dip this Thursday, as investors waited for the European Central Bank minutes from its latest meeting. The eurozone’s inflation data and Spain’s consumer prices loomed large, while stock indices in Madrid hovered under the 9,300 level. The treasury auction aim stood at 6.75 billion euros, a gauge of the market’s appetite for government paper amid mixed macro signals.
Earlier this week, after closing the session at 9,322 points, Madrid’s market kicked off Thursday with a modest decline. By the early moves of the session, the index had slipped to 9,262 as Europe’s major bourses opened in the red, reflecting a cautious mood across the continent.
Among the biggest decliners in the opening trades were Meliá, down around 2.6 percent, followed by Fluidra at about 1.7 percent and Cellnex around 1.6 percent. Amadeus slipped by roughly 1.4 percent, with Santander down about 1.2 percent and Unicaja and Sabadell each giving back around 1.1 percent of their value, highlighting a broad risk-off sentiment in retail, real estate and financials sectors.
Conversely, a handful of stocks managed to post small gains as the session began. Aserinox contributed a modest uptick near 0.22 percent, while Repsol, Red Eléctrica and Enagás each inched higher by roughly 0.13 to 0.12 percent, signaling selective buying interest in energy and infrastructure names.
Across Europe, the chief indices opened lower. Frankfurt slipped about 0.8 percent, Milan shed around 0.7 percent, Paris was close to a 0.6 percent retreat and London traded about 0.3 percent weaker, underscoring a shared risk-off mood among major markets this morning.
On the commodities front, Brent crude, the benchmark for European oil pricing, traded near 84.17 dollars per barrel at the opening, dipping about 0.2 percent. In U.S. trading, West Texas Intermediate hovered around 77.51 dollars, trading with a modest gain near 0.2 percent as energy demand sentiment remains mixed.
In the currency market, the euro traded at roughly 1.0636 against the dollar as traders weighed divergent euro-area data points and the ECB’s monetary policy stance. In government debt, the yield on the benchmark 10-year note edged higher, approaching 3.784 percent, reflecting ongoing concern about inflation trajectories and interest-rate expectations among investors. (Source attribution: Market data desk)