23 May - Spain's main stock market index opened lower on Tuesday, taking profits from four consecutive upward sessions as it awaits a series of macroeconomic data in Europe and the United States, while the deadline for the U.S. debt default approaches.

U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, remain unable to reach an agreement on the U.S. debt ceiling, 10 days away from a default with potentially catastrophic consequences for the global economy.

Adding to this was the prospect of a delayed rate cut by the Fed, reinforced by messages from several of its monetary leaders, torn between a pause or more rate hikes in June.

Currently, the FedWatch tool indicates a 20% chance of a quarter-percentage point hike in funding costs in June and the delay of cuts to November or December.

On the macro side, purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) for the eurozone and the U.S. will be released during the day, which will serve as a check on the shape of the economy .

"We expect to continue to see a contracting manufacturing sector (below 50), while the services sector should remain in the expansion zone (above 50), albeit slowing from the previous month, which together should lead to a deterioration in the composite PMI," wrote analysts at Renta 4.

Personal consumption expenditures and initial jobless claims in the US will also be released, along with the minutes of the last meeting of the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee, which could offer valuable clues about future central bank decisions in June.

In this context, At 07:05 GMT on Tuesday, Spain's selective stock market index Ibex-35 was down 30.50 points, or 0.33%, to 9,274.50 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was down 0.36%.

After driving the advance of the Ibex-35 on Monday, the banking sector took profits at the start of Tuesday's session: Santander lost 0.56%, BBVA fell 0.34%, Caixabank dropped 0.17%, Sabadell fell 0.02%, Bankinter lost 0.29%, and Unicaja Banco, the only banking stock to rise, gained 0.16%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.56%, Inditex fell 0.41%, Iberdrola dropped 0.26%, Cellnex fell 0.23%, and the oil company Repsol lost 0.41%.

(Information by José Muñoz; edited by Darío Fernández)