After two days of gains, the Spanish stock index Ibex-35 opened without a clear trend on Friday, in an uneasy market after tough messages from Federal Reserve officials, which rekindled fears of a prolonged period of high interest rates.

Bonds retreated -with the consequent tightening of financial conditions for States and companies-, while the dollar appreciated, after the hard-line comments of the president of the US Federal Reserve (Fed), Jerome Powell, which dashed expectations of a peak in interest rates.

Several Fed officials, including Powell, said Thursday that they are still not sure the battle against inflation is over, pushing back the prospect of an interest rate cut.

"Although the market attaches minimal probability to an additional +25 basis points hike (around 25%), everything still points to high rates for a long spell," said brokerage Renta 4.

Also contributing to higher yields in fixed income markets was the disappointing outcome of a 30-year US debt auction, which showed reduced appetite among investors.

Beyond the currency arena, investors continued to monitor developments in Gaza after an Iranian minister warned that a spillover of the conflict between Israel and Hamas to other countries is inevitable.

Against this backdrop, at 0813 GMT on Friday, Spain's selective Ibex-35 stock market index was up 2.00 points, or 0.02%, to 9,407.20 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was down 0.37%.

In the last five days, the Ibex-35 is up 1.17%, in what could be its second consecutive week in positive territory.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.70%, BBVA gained 0.05%, Caixabank advanced 0.18%, Sabadell fell 0.04%, Bankinter gained 0.07%, and Unicaja Banco lost 0.10%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.49%, Inditex fell 0.12%, Iberdrola dropped 0.05%, Cellnex gained 0.42%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.55%.

(Information by Tomás Cobos; edited by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)