The Spanish stock index Ibex-35 recorded a moderate cut at the opening on Wednesday, in a day considered to be largely transitional, as important monetary policy news in the United States will be known after the close.

Although no changes in interest rates are expected after the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, the markets will be very attentive to the messages of its chairman Jerome Powell, as well as to the update of the macroeconomic forecast table and the "dot plot", a graph of dots showing where Fed members (anonymously) expect the cost of borrowing to be in the coming months.

After the recent bullish run, financial markets could correct if a more reluctant stance to lower rates quickly among US central bank policymakers is confirmed.

"(...) we do not rule out that (the 'dot plot') will tighten to show fewer rate cuts in 2024, only 2 versus the 3 targeted in December," says securities house Renta 4 in a daily report, in view of the strength shown by recent inflation and employment data.

"Should the 'dot plot' be adjusted to only 2 cuts, the market would also need to adjust its expectations, which currently stand at 3 cuts for 2024, far from the 7 cuts expected by the end of 2023," these analysts add.

After the Fed meeting, the focus will shift to the Bank of England's meeting, which could moderate its speech after the release of the lower-than-expected February inflation figure. The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer reacted to the figures by saying that they open the way for a rate cut.

In other news, PMI business surveys will be released on Thursday and on Wednesday the main reference will be the German IFO index.

Against this backdrop, at 0805 GMT on Wednesday, the selective Spanish stock market index Ibex-35 was up 5.50 points, or 0.05%, to 10,706.90 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was down 0.23%.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.17%, BBVA gained 0.10%, Caixabank advanced 0.88%, Sabadell gained 0.67%, Bankinter gained 0.06%, and Unicaja Banco rose 0.188%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.18%, Inditex fell 0.37%, Iberdrola gained 0.14%, Cellnex fell 0.12%, and the oil company Repsol fell 0.5%.

(Information by Tomás Cobos)