Spain's Ibex-35 stock index opened higher on Friday and surpassed the 9,700-point level, the highest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020, against a backdrop of investor confidence that inflation is in retreat, which would lead to a slowdown in interest rate hikes by central banks.

Following the release of better-than-expected U.S. inflation data, futures markets have discounted 98 basis points of Fed rate cuts for next year, up from 73 basis points a week ago.

Inflation also posted a decline in the UK and investors will now turn their attention to the release of the Eurozone data at 1000 GMT, which "should confirm its moderation to 2.9% headline and 4.2% core, in the right direction, but still far from the 2% target," according to analysts at Renta 4.

On the local front, the Congress of Deputies on Thursday voted in favor of Pedro Sanchez's investiture as prime minister for a new term, ending a prolonged stalemate following July's general election.

At 0815 GMT on Friday, Spain's selective Ibex-35 stock market index was up 43.70 points, or 0.45%, to 9,711.10 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was up 0.50%.

The index was on track to close the week in positive territory, up 3.58%.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.33%, BBVA gained 0.34%, Caixabank advanced 0.37%, Sabadell gained 0.95%, Bankinter gained 0.29%, and Unicaja Banco rose 0.70%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.27%, Inditex advanced 0.77%, Iberdrola dropped 0.05%, Cellnex gained 0.36%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.22%.

Outside the Ibex-35, OHLA stood out, which rose 5.5% after publishing its nine-month results and reporting a profit after the losses of the previous year.

(Information by Benjamín Mejías Valencia; edited by Flora Gómez)