After rising to almost two-month highs the day before, the Spanish stock index Ibex-35 continued on the upward path on Wednesday and touched the highest levels since the end of July, as profit-taking failed to fully eclipse optimism in the face of falling inflation in the United States.

The US consumer price index (CPI) released on Tuesday came in lower than expected, leading markets to assume that interest rates will not rise further in the US.

This perception was reinforced on Wednesday by UK inflation figures, which were also lower than economists' forecasts, but at levels that still justify high interest rates for an extended period.

Also on the macroeconomic front, the morning saw better-than-expected indicators from China--factory output and retail sales--although the property sector still showed weakness, with investment in the sector down 9.3%, encouraging speculation that state support will be maintained.

Otherwise, the focus will be "on the meeting between (Joe) Biden and Xi Jinping (top leaders of the United States and China, respectively), in which relevant issues such as restrictions on semiconductor exports, Taiwan and the war conflicts (Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas) could be addressed", according to the brokerage firm Renta 4.

These analysts point out that other macro references of the day will be industrial production in the eurozone (1000 GMT) and industrial prices and retail sales in the United States (1330 GMT).

At 0821 GMT on Wednesday, Spain's selective stock market index Ibex-35 was up 40.30 points, or 0.42%, to 9,663.60 points, its highest level in almost four months, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was up 0.60%.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.08%, BBVA gained 0.78%, Caixabank advanced 1.01%, Sabadell fell 0.20%, Bankinter gained 0.26%, and Unicaja Banco rose 0.39%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.11%, Inditex fell 0.14%, Iberdrola gained 0.28%, Cellnex fell 0.09%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.25%.

Outside the Ibex-35, Prosegur stood out, rising more than 20% after the launch of a takeover bid for the company by Gubel. The offer price was 1.83 euros per share, well above the closing price of 1.436 euros the day before. Wednesday's rise brought the share price to 1.73 euros, still below the consideration offered by Gubel.

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