Markets ended the week on a positive note ahead of a long holiday weekend in the US, and optimism prevailed on news that the White House and Congressional Republicans are nearing a deal to raise the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.
Traders are still keeping an eye on central banks and are adjusting their estimates following the release of a slew of US data, including inflation.
According to the CME's FedWatch tool, the probability that the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) will keep rates unchanged at its June 13-14 meeting is now 44%, down from 59% just before the figures were released. The probability of a 25 basis point hike is now 56%, up from 41% prior to the data release.
Against this backdrop, the selective Spanish stock market index Ibex-35 closed up 75.00 points on Friday, up 0.82%, at 9,191.10 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was up 1.28%.
For the week as a whole, the Ibex-35 registered a decline of 0.65%.
In the banking sector, Santander rose 1.33%, BBVA gained 1.00%, Caixabank advanced 1.63%, Sabadell gained 0.50%, Bankinter dropped 0.62%, and Unicaja Banco lost 0.53%.
Among the large non-financial stocks, Inditex advanced 1.07%, Iberdrola gained 0.92%, Cellnex gained 0.51%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.50%.
(Information by Flora Gómez)