The Spanish stock index Ibex-35 opened with little variation on Monday, after a bullish streak that has taken it to its highest levels in more than five years, in a climate of optimism in equities due to hopes of interest rate cuts.

On Friday came comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who was upbeat about progress in slowing the pace of inflation to the 2% target without restraining economic growth more than necessary.

Although Powell stated that the Fed is not currently planning to lower rates, the market increased bets on a cut in the first half of 2024, as it considers the rate hike cycle to be over.

Expectations of borrowing cost cuts pushed gold to record highs above $2,100 an ounce on Monday.

The key in the coming sessions, according to analysts at Renta 4, will continue to be macroeconomic data, especially inflation and employment data, as they could provide clues as to the measures to be taken by the major central banks in the coming months.

This week's highlight will be the US employment figures, which will serve as a thermometer of the situation of the world's leading economy.

"In general, an acceleration in job creation is expected with the reinstatement of workers in the automotive sector after the end of the strike, which could cool expectations of rate cuts generated in recent weeks in the face of the recent slowdown in economic activity data," said Renta 4 in its daily report.

On this side of the Atlantic, the main reference according to these analysts will be the European Central Bank's 1 and 3-year inflation expectations.

Against this backdrop, at 08:02 GMT on Monday, the selective Spanish stock market index Ibex-35 was up 5.50 points, or 0.05%, to 10,146.30 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was down 0.24%.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.05%, BBVA gained 0.61%, Caixabank advanced 0.49%, Sabadell gained 0.22%, Bankinter dropped 0.09%, and Unicaja Banco rose 0.10%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.10%, Inditex gave up 0.13%, Iberdrola lost 0.09%, Cellnex gained 0.20%, and the oil company Repsol lost 1.16%, in a context of falling oil prices.

(Information by Tomás Cobos)