The IBEX 35 opened Friday with a modest rebound, after a week of extreme volatility dominated by the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran, and fears over its impact on the global economy. Investors sought safe havens, with oil prices serving as the main gauge of risk.

A pullback in crude prices offered some relief to global stock markets that had been heavily battered. Still, the Spanish benchmark suffered a significant blow this week: over the past five days, it has lost more than 1,000 points, about 5.6%, according to early Friday trading figures.

Meanwhile, the market was digesting conflicting signals from the United States on how to contain rising energy prices. On one hand, a senior White House official said the US government is considering intervening in the futures market to curb price increases and granting exemptions for the purchase of Russian oil to ease supply constraints caused by the conflict with Iran.

However, a source close to the US government said that Donald Trump's administration is currently ruling out using the Treasury Department to negotiate oil futures, according to Bloomberg News.

Additionally, President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was not concerned about the rise in gasoline prices in the United States caused by the conflict with Iran, telling Reuters in an exclusive interview that the US military operation was his priority.

The war between the US, Israel, and Iran has rocked markets this week, prompting investors to seek the safety of cash as they brace for a conflict that could last longer than initially anticipated.

Traders have also factored in more aggressive interest rate expectations from major central banks, given the risk of a resurgence in inflation if energy prices continue to rise.

Looking ahead to Friday's session, market attention shifted to the US employment report. Jobs are estimated to have increased by 59,000 last month, following a rise of 130,000 in January, according to a Reuters survey of economists. The unemployment rate is expected to have remained steady at 4.3%.

Nonetheless, Renta 4 noted in its daily report that "macroeconomic data is losing relevance in the current geopolitical context, where upward pressure on inflation stemming from tensions in energy markets could shape the Federal Reserve's monetary policy."

"In this regard, it is worth noting that the first Fed rate cut has been pushed back to September and the likelihood of a second cut this year has dropped to 55%. Although no interest rate move is expected at the March 18 meeting, all eyes will be on the macroeconomic outlook and the 'dot plot'," the analysts added. The "dot plot" is a chart showing Federal Reserve officials' forecasts for future interest rates.

Against this backdrop, at 0805 GMT on Friday, Spain's IBEX 35 stock index was up 28.00 points, or 0.16%, at 17,273.20 points, while the pan-European FTSE Eurofirst 300 index advanced 0.20%.

In the banking sector, Santander fell 0.16%, BBVA rose 0.16%, Caixabank slipped 0.49%, Sabadell edged up 0.03%, Bankinter lost 0.11%, and Unicaja Banco dropped 0.08%.

Among the major non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.53%, Inditex advanced 0.19%, Iberdrola rose 0.05%, Cellnex climbed 0.94%, and oil company Repsol showed little change.

(Reporting by Tomás Cobos; editing by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)