The Spanish stock index Ibex-35 opened Wednesday with a rebound that extended the recent bullish streak, as the truce in the war between Israel and Hamas was positively reflected, while it continues to wait for news that will provide clues on the trend of interest rates.

The Israeli government and the Islamist militia agreed on Wednesday to a four-day pause in fighting to allow the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, as well as the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.

The pact did not have a major impact on markets, but it did allay fears of a widening of the conflict to other countries in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, investors remain on the lookout for macroeconomic data or any comments from major central banks, after the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve (Fed) monetary policy meeting did not change economists' expectations.

U.S. central bank leaders agreed that they would proceed with caution in raising rates and would only do so if the information they receive shows a lack of progress in reducing inflation.

"To the extent that (the minutes) yielded no surprises, market reaction was minimal, with investors continuing to place the first rate cut between May and June following the latest inflation data (moderating somewhat more than expected, although still far from target, especially the core rate)," said securities house Renta 4 in its daily report.

In this regard, markets will analyze on Wednesday several U.S. macroeconomic indicators that could give clues on the direction of the cost of debt, including durable goods consumption, the weekly unemployment report and the University of Michigan consumer confidence index.

Renta 4 analysts also highlight the interest in the evolution of sales at the start of the holiday shopping season, with the celebration of Black Friday this Friday.

During the day, caution could dominate, in any case, in view of a four-day long weekend in the United States for the Thanksgiving holiday.

At 08:18 GMT on Wednesday, Spain's selective Ibex-35 stock market was up 40.30 points, 0.41%, to 9,867.80 points, its highest level since February 21, 2020, just before COVID-19 confinements became widespread in the West. The Ibex-35 has recovered 500 points in the last eight trading days, in seven of which it has closed in positive territory.

For its part, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks advanced by 0.22%.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.46%, BBVA gained 0.58%, Caixabank advanced 0.46%, Sabadell gained 0.49%, Bankinter gained 0.41%, and Unicaja Banco rose 0.55%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.45%, Inditex traded almost flat, Iberdrola gained 0.32%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.07%.

Cellnex was up 1.8% after positive comments from its CEO in an interview with Reuters. Marco Patuano indicated that the telecommunications tower group plans to accelerate asset sales with a view to achieving an investment-grade credit rating.

(Information by Tomás Cobos)