The Ibex-35 closed Thursday's trading day in positive territory, consolidating above the 9,000-point barrier, its highest point in 14 months, in an environment marked by economic optimism driven by good U.S. data and the prospects of China's reopening.

Markets remain optimistic that the recession may be milder than expected following signs of strength in the economy.

This view was reinforced by the day's US GDP data, which showed a strong but slowing pace of economic growth in the fourth quarter.

Attention now turns to central bank decisions next week, when the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank will announce their plans to curb inflation.

Investors expect the Fed to signal that the end of rate hikes is near, and there is uncertainty about the tone the ECB will take after mixed comments from its leaders.

As a result, Spain's selective Ibex-35 closed up 78.10 points on Thursday, or 0.87%, to 9,035.60 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks rose by 0.29%.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 3.25%, BBVA gained 1.99%, Caixabank advanced 1.40%, Bankinter gained 2.11% and Unicaja Banco rose 3.51%.

The financial entity Sabadell was at the top of the table with a rise of 10.98%, reaching three-year highs after announcing at the beginning of the day an increase in shareholder remuneration and a significant increase in profit in 2022.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica fell 0.89%, Inditex advanced 2.06%, Iberdrola dropped 0.28%, Cellnex fell 1.87%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.96%.

(Information by José Muñoz, edited by Aida Peláez-Fernández)