15 May - The Spanish stock index Ibex-35 fell slightly on Monday after the advance with which it closed last week, in a day that will bring few references, so investors will await several macroeconomic data and appearances of Fed leaders, which during the week will give clues about the economic future.

Meanwhile, in the United States, negotiations to raise the debt ceiling continue against the clock and with the possibility of a second round of elections in Turkey, investors will pay close attention to the statements of several Federal Reserve officials during the week, in order to gauge whether their current bets on rate cuts this year are too optimistic.

Although the US central bank left the door open to slowing rate hikes at its last meeting, several of its monetary policymakers were forceful last week in their commitment to its fight against still-high inflation.

However, despite recent US inflation readings bolstering market bets for a pause in credit tightening, a survey on Friday showed consumer confidence falling on uncertainty over whether Washington will reach a pact to increase its borrowing capacity.

"We continue to believe that the most likely scenario, given the discrepancies between the parties, is that the deadlines will run out (early June?) and an agreement will be reached 'in extremis' to avoid 'default,' which should introduce additional volatility to the market in the short term," Renta 4 analysts said in a note on the ongoing negotiations between the administration of Democrat Joe Biden and the parliamentary leaders of the Republican opposition.

Beyond the US, Tuesday will bring monthly data on industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment from China, while during Monday's session, industrial production in the eurozone will be released (0900 GMT).

Thus, at 07:05 GMT on Monday, the selective Spanish stock market index Ibex-35 fell 1.00 points, or 0.01%, to 9,233.10 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks advanced 0.34%.

In the banking sector, BBVA fell 3.39% following the result of the elections in Turkey, an important market for the bank.

Santander rose 0.32%, Caixabank advanced 0.72%, Sabadell gained 0.53%, Bankinter gained 0.93%, and Unicaja Banco rose 0.05%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.31%, Inditex advanced 0.29%, Iberdrola gained 0.25%, Cellnex gained 0.32%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.04%.

(Information by Darío Fernández; edited by Tomás Cobos).