The Ibex 35 advanced by 0.73% at midday this Friday and stood at 19,320.8 points, driven by the message from the president of the Federal Reserve of the United States (Fed), Kevin Warsh, who has lowered expectations for a new interest rate hike in October.
In his speech, the top official of the Fed insisted on the commitment of the U.S. central bank to price stability, emphasizing that around a month ago some of the stimulus measures that were still in effect were withdrawn.
At the same time, the so-called 'Guardian of the dollar' reminded that the institution will still hold a couple more meetings in 2026, which will be decisive for assessing the economic and monetary scenario. "I do not prejudge the meetings. I do not believe in predicting now what I will do in the meetings we have for the rest of the year," he stated.
From Renta 4 they point out that "Even so, the market continues to discount three Fed hikes in the next 12 months in light of the promise of price stability," and they explain that the latest data on retail sales, weekly employment, and producer prices add renewed upward pressure on inflation.
In parallel, the geopolitical context remains tense. The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has stated that Washington is considering resorting to the GBU-43/B bomb -- popularly known as MOAB, 'the mother of all bombs' -- against Iran and has reiterated that the war with Iran "is going to end very soon, one way or another," at a time when negotiations to end the conflict in the Middle East have barely advanced in recent months.
Despite this scenario, U.S. authorities assure that more than 40 merchant ships have crossed the Strait of Hormuz in the last day, despite the restrictions and attacks attributed to Iran in the area. Washington has also accused the Revolutionary Guard of being behind the recent sinking of a Singapore-flagged ship, which would have been hit by a missile.
In the macroeconomic sphere, it has been reported that the services sector increased its revenue by 6% in August compared to the same month in 2025. For its part, the turnover of the industry recorded a year-on-year increase of 10.8%.
Likewise, it has been confirmed that the year-on-year inflation rates of the euro zone and the entire European Union (EU) reached their highest level in the last three years in September, after both indicators rose to 3.8%, six tenths above the readings of August, according to Eurostat data.
Within the selective index, the largest increases at midday corresponded to Acciona (+3.16%), Solaria (+2.73%), Indra (+2.73%), Sacyr (+2.60%), Amadeus (+2.50%) and Merlin (+2.20%). On the downside, only two values were in negative: Repsol (-0.51%) and Aena (-0.47%).
The main European stock markets were also moving in positive territory, except for London, which fell by 0.08%. Frankfurt gained 0.99%; Paris advanced 0.23%; and Milan added 0.77%.
In commodities, the price of crude showed slight declines: the barrel of Brent was at 105.58 dollars, 0.30% less, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was quoted at 97.43 dollars, with a drop of 0.63%.
In the debt market, the yield on the Spanish 10-year bond remained practically stable at 4.034%, compared to 4.025% at Thursday's close, which led the risk premium against the German 'bund' to fall slightly to 60.7 basis points.
In the foreign exchange market, the euro appreciated by 0.29% against the greenback, bringing the exchange rate to 1.1253 dollars per euro.