The Spanish stock market index Ibex-35 opened Thursday with an indecisive trend, after a bullish streak that has left it at the gates of the 9,900 points barrier, awaiting new references that determine the medium-term course.

Equities continue to speculate on the outlook for interest rates in the major economies next year, without confidence in early cuts taking root in the face of contradictory messages from central bankers.

With a growing sense that monetary leaders are trying to contain hopes of cheaper money so as not to derail their anti-inflation strategy, regardless of the measures they take, the interpretation of macroeconomic indicators becomes even more important.

On Thursday, the only figures will come from Europe, where the PMI business surveys for November will be released, which, according to Renta 4, "are expected to show very slight signs of recovery, but remain in a clear area of contraction, especially in the manufacturing component".

These analysts add that there will also be interest in the minutes of the meeting held by the European Central Bank (ECB) at the end of October, where it left interest rates unchanged in the hope that keeping them high for a good period of time would be enough to put inflation back on track.

"In any case, we expect a repeat that monetary policy will be data-dependent, in a context where the evolution of energy prices is uncertain (given the context of geopolitical risk), while there remains risk on wages (labor markets remain very strong)," they said.

The market also continued to follow developments in the Middle East, following the truce agreed between Israel and Hamas, as well as the price of crude oil, which fell by more than 1% due to uncertainty about OPEC+'s next steps.

In any case, trading volume will be limited due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

At 0813 GMT on Thursday, Spain's selective Ibex-35 stock market index was down 9.90 points, or 0.10%, to 9,877.50 points, still at the highest levels since February 2020, before COVID-19 confinements became widespread, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was up 0.04%.

In the banking sector, Santander lost 0.04%, BBVA gained 0.12%, Caixabank gave up 0.07%, Sabadell fell 0.60%, Bankinter dropped 0.25% and Unicaja Banco rose 1.31%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.24%, Inditex fell 0.30%, Iberdrola dropped 0.05%, Cellnex gained 0.24%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.58%.

Endesa fell by 2%, after updating its plans for the coming years, with forecasts at the lower end of the range previously envisaged for 2023.

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