The Spanish stock index Ibex-35 opened Thursday with a timid rebound on a day marked by the publication of the US CPI, which will decide the bets on the next steps of the US Federal Reserve.

A Reuters poll points to an overall rate of the consumer price index of 0.0% in monthly terms in December and +6.5% in the year-on-year variation - compared to +0.1% and +7.1% respectively in November-, with increases of 0.3% and 5.7% in the underlying figure - compared to 0.2% and 6.0%.

"The inflation data will be decisive for the amount of the Fed's next rate hike, 25 or 50 bp (basis points), at its February 1 meeting," said analysts at Renta 4.

"The market is currently discounting +30 bps and an arrival level for the Fed Funds rate (US benchmark interest rates) of 5% in Jun-2023, as well as cuts of -50 bps in the final part of the year, despite the Fed's repeated statements that rates will not come down in 2023," they added.

Along those lines, Boston Fed chief Susan Collins was inclined to raise borrowing costs by a quarter percentage point at the central bank's next meeting, according to a Wednesday article in the New York Times.

Also on the macroeconomic front, the Bank of Japan indicated it will review the side effects of its monetary easing at next week's policy meetings and may take additional steps to correct distortions in the yield curve, the Yomiuri newspaper reported Thursday.

In the background, as in recent sessions, uncertainty remains over the evolution of the giant wave of COVID-19 in China, which could worsen with the Chinese New Year vacation season and determine the course of its economy in the initial stretch of 2023.

At 08:01 GMT on Thursday, Spain's selective Ibex-35 stock market index was up 19.30 points, or 0.22%, to 8,745.60 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was up 0.15%.

If it closed in positive territory, the Ibex would have risen in eight of the nine trading sessions in 2023.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.95%, BBVA gained 0.30%, Caixabank advanced 1.13%, Sabadell gained 1.10%, Bankinter gained 1.38%, and Unicaja Banco rose 1.51%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.53%, Inditex fell 0.62%, Iberdrola dropped 0.09%, Cellnex fell 0.53%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.75%.

(Information by Tomás Cobos; edited by Flora Gómez)