The Spanish stock market index Ibex-35 started the month of July with a slight rebound that allowed it to provisionally chain its sixth consecutive session upwards and exceed 9,600 points, although the recent bullish streak showed signs of exhaustion as it awaits a week full of important references.

After reaching at the end of last week its highest levels since the end of February 2020 - just before the COVID-19 confinements in the West - this week the path will be decided by the minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting (Wednesday) and several US labor market indicators: the JOLTS job openings (Wednesday), the ADP private job creation survey (Thursday) and the Government employment report (Friday).

These data could shape the upcoming decisions of the U.S. Federal Reserve, for which the market currently projects an 87% chance of another interest rate hike in July.

Analysts at Renta 4 indicated that, despite the recent bullish streak, they recommend caution, as "valuations have been adjusting with the price increases and we may still see further economic deterioration as aggressive interest rate hikes filter through to the real economy, undermining private consumption and business investment".

"Despite the fact that, for the moment, the scenario is outperforming forecasts, the uncertainties are numerous, as shown by the increasingly forceful inversion of the yield curves, so it still seems premature to declare victory," they added, indicating, however, that "if a soft landing of the economy is confirmed, (...) we do not rule out that the current positive sentiment of the stock markets could continue.

At 0706 GMT on Monday, the Spanish selective stock market Ibex-35 was up 19.00 points, or 0.20%, to 9,612.00 points, its highest level since February 21, 2020, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was up 0.26%.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.34%, BBVA gained 0.48%, Caixabank gave up 0.11%, Sabadell gained 2.13%, Bankinter gained 0.32%, and Unicaja Banco rose 0.52%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.75%, Inditex gave up 0.37%, Iberdrola gained 0.42%, Cellnex gained 0.43%, and the oil company Repsol rose 1.46%.

Acciona Energía stood out on the downside, with a 2% drop after suffering JP Morgan's downgrade of its recommendation.

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