The Spanish stock index IBEX 35 opened Monday with an upward trend in the run-up to the meetings of the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan, and in a climate of concern about the possibility of an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Investors fear that an Israeli response to Saturday's deadly rocket attack on the Golan Heights -- which Israel and the U.S. attributed to Hezbollah -- could increase geopolitical tension in the area.

With central banks in the U.S., Britain and Japan meeting this week, market players are bracing for the possible effects of their decisions.

The Fed is not expected to cut interest rates this week, but there will be a lot of interest in the comments of its leaders in the expectation that the long-awaited rate cuts will begin in September.

"In the case of the Fed, we expect steady rates at 5.25%-5.5%, although the moderation seen in the latest inflation, labor market and private consumption data should allow for a more dovish tone from Powell, who has already been more confident in his recent appearances about reaching the 2% inflation target," said analysts at Renta 4 in a note on Monday.

The term "dovish" (literally, "dovish") refers to positions in favor of monetary easing or supporters of such decisions.

According to interest rate futures in LSEG's IRPR tool--the odds of a Fed rate cut in September is 100%.

For the Bank of England (BoE), interest rate futures show a 50% chance of a cut, although most economists polled by Reuters believe there will be a cut.

The Bank of Japan, on the other hand, is rowing against the tide, and could raise interest rates for a second time on Wednesday.

The week will be full of corporate results. In the US, the results of technology giants such as Microsoft on Tuesday, Meta on Wednesday, Apple and Amazon on Thursday, as well as numerous IBEX companies, will be released.

Investors will also be watching macroeconomic data, which could contribute to the outlook for ECB rate cuts in September. Second-quarter GDP data for the Eurozone, Spain, Germany and France, and July CPI for Spain and Germany will be released on Tuesday. CPI for the Eurozone, France and Italy will be released on Wednesday.

Thus, at 08:00 GMT on Monday, the selective Spanish stock market index IBEX 35 was up 44.80 points, or 0.40%, to 11,210.70 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was up 0.15%.

With three sessions left to close July (including Monday), the selective index accumulates a monthly advance of 2.47%.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.31%, BBVA gained 0.70%, Caixabank advanced 0.30%, Sabadell gained 1.00%, Bankinter gained 0.07%, and Unicaja Banco rose 0.60%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.24%, Inditex advanced 0.27%, Iberdrola gained 0.70%, Cellnex gained 0.31%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.81%.

(Information by Javi West Larrañaga; edited by Tomás Cobos)