The main Spanish stock market index opened with a negative bias on Wednesday, trapped between references of mixed signals, as the conflict between Hamas and Israel counteracted the favorable macroeconomic data coming out of China.

In the geopolitical context, the news of an explosion in a hospital in Gaza that left hundreds of people dead boosted crude oil, which soared 2% on supply concerns, and fears of a widening conflict hurt bonds and equities and pushed investors into safe-haven stocks.

On the macroeconomic front, China lifted spirits after GDP surprised on the upside, showing that the economic recovery is gaining momentum and that the government's flurry of support measures is having an effect.

US retail sales figures also rose more than expected, indicating a healthy economy and pushing markets to recalculate their expectations for rate hikes.

"The probability of a further +25bp rate hike [in November] is virtually non-existent (10%), insofar as the sharp rise in IRRs in recent months are already doing the Fed's job of monetary tightening, although the probability of an additional hike heading into year-end has risen somewhat following yesterday's robust consumer spending data (55% vs. 35% previously)," wrote analysts at Renta 4.

Earnings season continues to gain momentum in the US and numerous companies will release results during the day, including Netflix and Tesla.

The final year-on-year CPI data for September for the eurozone and the US Federal Reserve's Beige Book will also be released.

At 07:13 GMT on Wednesday, the selective Spanish stock market index Ibex-35 was down 16.50 points, or 0.18%, to 9,282.00 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was down 0.39%.

In the banking sector, Santander lost 0.27%, BBVA gained 0.39%, Caixabank advanced 0.42%, Sabadell fell 0.22%, Bankinter gained 0.07%, and Unicaja Banco lost 0.30%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica fell 0.05%, Inditex dropped 0.03%, Iberdrola lost 0.76%, Cellnex fell 0.54%, and the oil company Repsol rose 1.30%, taking advantage of the increase in the price of crude oil.

Outside the Ibex, the shares of Grenergy renovables SA rose by 2.85% after selling 300 MW of solar capacity to Allianz.

(Information by José Muñoz; edited by Tomás Cobos)