The Spanish stock market index Ibex-35 moved away from 9,400 points after a day in which the markets were attentive to central banks and the tightening of monetary policy, although it partially recovered from the sharp decline at the opening.

The Bank of England surprised the markets this day when it raised its interest rates by 50 basis points, above expectations, leaving rates at 5%.

The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee defended its decision in the face of persistent inflation gripping the country, and warned that "second-round effects on domestic price and wage developments generated by external cost shocks are likely to take longer to fade than they did to emerge."

Similarly, this Thursday was Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's second and final round before Congress, where he defended the possibility of further hikes despite the possible second-round effect on employment.

Powell repeated the rhetoric of other Fed leaders who also advocated further hikes after U.S. jobless claims remained elevated.

Thus, at 15:31 GMT on Thursday, the selective Spanish stock market Ibex-35 fell 71.40 points, or 0.76%, to 9,365.00 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks fell 0.55%.

In the banking sector, Santander lost 1.75%, BBVA fell 0.65%, Caixabank ceded 2.03%, Sabadell fell 1.79%, Bankinter fell 1.40%, and Unicaja Banco lost 1.33%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica fell 0.60%, Inditex dropped 0.81%, Iberdrola lost 0.68%, Cellnex gained 0.79%, and the oil company Repsol lost 1.23%.

At the top of the board was the hotel chain Meliá Hotels with a rise of 3.41%, after announcing during the day that it expects an EBITDA of at least 475 million euros in 2023.

(Information by José Muñoz, edited by Manuel Farías)