The IBEX 35 opened lower on Friday, potentially marking its fourth consecutive session in the red, as renewed jitters in the technology sector dampened sentiment and investors awaited the crucial US inflation report, a key indicator for interest rate trajectory.

Concerns over shrinking margins at digital firms weighed on Apple, which was down about 5% on electronic trading platforms, prompting a flight to safety in US Treasury bonds and setting up the Spanish blue-chip index for a weekly drop of nearly 0.7%.

The latest wave of selling was triggered after Cisco Systems reported on Wednesday a margin below expectations due to rising memory chip costs. Its shares plunged 12%, wiping out about $40 billion in market capitalization and dragging down the Nasdaq Composite, which fell 2%.

Nevertheless, the market's focus on Friday will be on the US inflation data. Forecasts point to a 0.3% monthly rise in the core rate, enough for the annual reading to ease from 2.7% to 2.5%.

"If the CPI comes out as expected, it will add to the boost Applied Materials is giving to tech, and we could see a positive session on the stock markets. Bonds would also welcome a declining inflation figure, and we could close the week on a positive note after yesterday's declines and the erratic sessions earlier," Bankinter analysts said on their Telegram channel.

Applied Materials on Thursday forecast second fiscal quarter revenue and earnings above estimates, banking on a surge in demand for AI processors and a global memory shortage to drive sales of its chip manufacturing equipment.

Positive signals also emerged on the trade front: The Financial Times reported Friday that US President Donald Trump plans to reduce some tariffs on steel and aluminum products, according to people familiar with the matter.

Additionally, the US government signed a definitive reciprocal trade agreement confirming a 15% tariff on imports from Taiwan, while Taiwan committed to a timetable to eliminate or reduce tariffs on nearly all US products.

With these factors in play, as of 0802 GMT on Friday, Spain's IBEX 35 was down 74.80 points, or 0.40%, at 17,823.10, while the pan-European blue-chip index FTSE Eurofirst 300 was unchanged.

For the week, the IBEX 35 is showing a decline of 0.68%.

In the banking sector, Santander was down 1.50%, BBVA slipped 0.76%, Caixabank lost 0.57%, Sabadell fell 0.19%, Bankinter dropped 0.94%, and Unicaja Banco was down 0.68%.

Among the major non-financial stocks, Telefónica edged up 0.03%, Inditex advanced 0.31%, Iberdrola gained 0.10%, Cellnex rose 1.40%, and oil company Repsol was up 0.09%.

(Reporting by Tomás Cobos; editing by María Bayarri Cárdenas)