The IBEX 35 opened Wednesday with little movement, in a session marked by the Christmas pause, low trading volume, and a lack of macroeconomic references, with half-day sessions in the main European and U.S. markets and a market that is effectively calling the year closed.

The benchmark index remains above 17,150 points, at all-time highs, with investors hesitant to take new positions after an exceptional year.

With four trading days left to close out 2025 (including this Wednesday), the index has posted a gain of nearly 48%, which would mark the second-largest annual advance in its history, surpassed only by the 54% surge in 1993.

So far this month, the IBEX has added around 5%, setting up a possible six-month winning streak and its strongest monthly rise since May.

"Besides the lack of significant macro references, stock markets are only open for half a session, both in Europe and the U.S. Tomorrow there will be no trading in stocks or bonds, and Friday neither, except in the U.S. and Japan. The market considers the year closed and it's time to position for 2026," analysts at Bankinter explained on their Telegram channel.

"(...) the environment is pro-market and the potential offered by equities ranges between +9%/+17%. The reasons: (i) the current economic cycle is expansionary, with (ii) inflation perhaps somewhat higher than desirable but not problematic, (iii) corporate profits growing at double digits (+12% in Europe and +13% in the U.S.), and (iv) falling interest rates in the U.S.," they added.

In the background, geopolitical uncertainty persists due to tensions between the United States and Venezuela, which is also impacting the oil market.

Washington declared before the United Nations that it will impose and enforce sanctions "to the maximum" to deprive Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of resources.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard is awaiting the arrival of additional forces before attempting to intercept a Venezuelan-linked oil tanker it has been pursuing since Sunday.

Commercial frictions between Washington and Beijing also continue. The Donald Trump administration announced it will impose tariffs on Chinese semiconductor imports starting in June 2027, with the specific rate to be announced at least one month in advance. 

China responded by criticizing the "indiscriminate use of tariffs" and the "unreasonable crackdown" on Chinese industries by the United States, when asked about Washington's plan. 

On the macroeconomic front, the only notable data will be the weekly jobless claims figures in the United States.

With these factors in play, and after reaching a record closing level of 17,182.8 points on Tuesday, Spain's IBEX 35 stock index was down 19.70 points, or 0.11%, to 17,163.10 points at 0802 GMT on Wednesday, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of leading European stocks rose 0.07%.

In the banking sector, Santander lost 0.46%, BBVA fell 0.28%, Caixabank slipped 0.24%, Sabadell dropped 0.21%, Bankinter slid 0.67%, and Unicaja Banco was down 0.43%.

Among the major non-financial stocks, Telefónica declined 0.12%, Inditex edged down 0.07%, Iberdrola was unchanged, Cellnex gained 0.22%, and oil company Repsol rose 0.35%.

(Reporting by Tomás Cobos; editing by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)