Ibex 35 Closes Higher Led by Consumer, Banking and Telecom Stocks

The Ibex 35 closed the session up 0.69 percent, driven by strong performance in the consumer services, financial services and real estate, and telecoms and technology sectors, which led gains on the Spanish stock exchange for the day.

Among the best performing stocks was International Consolidated Airlines Group, parent company of Iberia and British Airways, which rose 2.41 percent, followed by CaixaBank, up 2.20 percent, and Endesa, which gained 1.67 percent.

On the other side, Repsol was the session's worst performer, falling 3.36 percent in line with the drop in oil prices, followed by Merlin Properties, down 1.63 percent, and Indra, which fell 1.17 percent.

Market breadth reflected the day's positive tone: 109 stocks on the Madrid exchange closed higher against 76 that ended lower, while another 23 were unchanged.

In international markets, gold rose 0.67 percent to 4,712.10 dollars an ounce, while crude oil fell sharply: the US benchmark dropped 2.47 percent to 84.91 dollars a barrel and Brent lost 2.18 percent to 90.65 dollars. In currencies, the euro was essentially flat against the dollar at around 1.17 and against the pound at around 0.86, while the dollar index rose 0.18 percent to 98.91.