The Spanish IBEX 35 stock index opened the first session of 2025 slightly higher, kicking off a year in which investors will be closely watching the incoming Trump administration to gauge their bets.

Despite starting the cutting cycle almost in tandem, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB) decoupled in 2024, as Frankfurt put a premium on reviving the eurozone economy, while the Fed still struggles to moderate inflation.

This difference could become even more noticeable in the coming months, as markets expect the ECB to cut interest rates by 113 basis points (bps) in 2025 compared to 42 bps for the US central bank.

Regarding equities, Bankinter analysts predict that 2025 will have a "confused start" and that the rest of the year will be more complicated than 2024, a very favorable year for the stock markets in which the IBEX appreciated by almost 15% annually and the US S&P 500 by 24%.

"These are testing days for the start of the year and with little activity. It seems that it could bounce somewhat today after the previous setbacks, but until next week the year will not begin to take shape in any direction," they point out in their Telegram channel.

As for macroeconomic data, at the start of the session, the final December manufacturing PMI data for Spain and the eurozone will be released. Later, US weekly unemployment and November construction spending for November will be released.

At 08:15 GMT on Thursday, Spain's selective IBEX 35 stock market index was up 37.40 points, or 0.32%, to 11,632.40 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was up 0.31%.

In the banking sector, Santander lost 0.48%, BBVA fell 0.51%, Caixabank advanced 0.04%, Sabadell fell 0.61%, Bankinter dropped 0.37%, and Unicaja Banco lost 0.16%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.56%, Inditex advanced 0.42%, Iberdrola rose 0.79%, Cellnex gained 0.66%, and the oil company Repsol rose 1.50%.

(Information by Javi West Larrañaga; edited by)