IBEX 35 
It is almost certain that the monetary institution will keep interest rates unchanged, so the focus will be on comments about a possible interest rate cut in September, which would be the second one this year.
Analysts at the Renta 4 securities house point out that, at the ECB's previous meeting, its president Christine Lagarde "explained that the cut (in June) was due to the intense moderation of inflation since its highs in October 2022 (10.6% in general rate), which meant that there was no need to maintain such high real rates".
Nevertheless, the head of the ECB "warned that the ECB plans to maintain a restrictive monetary policy until it can conclude its fight against inflation, which will remain above its target until 2026," Renta 4 analysts point out.
The market also continues to watch for fears of an intensification of the trade war between the United States and China, a context that weighed on the stock price of technology companies on Wednesday, while analyzing corporate results for the second quarter.
In Spain, Bankinter's figures were released on Thursday, which rose 2.38% after announcing that its net profit for the second quarter increased by 17% compared to the same period in 2023, thanks to an increase in income from loans and higher commissions.
The rest of the banking sector followed this trend, with rises of 0.47% in Santander, 0.61% in BBVA, 1.01% in Caixabank, 0.23% in Sabadell and 0.53% in Unicaja Banco.
Among other large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.62%, Inditex advanced 0.24%, Iberdrola gained 0.55%, Cellnex gained 0.25%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.78%.
Overall, at 0705 GMT on Thursday, the selective Spanish stock market index IBEX 35 was up 45.80 points, or 0.41%, to 11,151.00 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was up 0.38%.
(Information by Tomás Cobos; edited by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)
