Spain's Ibex-35 stock index opened lower on Friday on renewed fears of a recession, although on track for a fifth consecutive weekly advance, with markets keeping an eye on indices of economic activity on both sides of the Atlantic following weak U.S. data.

Rising jobless claims and a drop in manufacturing activity in the Mid-Atlantic area to its lowest level in nearly three years pushed market fears of a U.S. recession amid a backdrop of rising interest rates in the face of persistent inflation.

In this sense, the focus of the day will be on the preliminary readings of the April Purchasing Managers' Indices (PMI) for the United States, the Eurozone and the United Kingdom.

"The data is expected to show overall stability in the composite PMI, with a slight improvement in the manufacturing component, although remaining in the contraction zone, and some deterioration in services, but showing growth," Renta 4 analysts said in a note to clients.

Japan on Friday reported consumer inflation above the Bank of Japan's target in March, while a four-decade high in a benchmark index increased pressure on the central bank to abandon its ultra-loose monetary policy.

At 0705 GMT on Friday, Spain's selective Ibex-35 stock market index was down 29.90 points, or 0.32%, to 9,421.00 points. Thus, for the week as a whole, the Ibex-35 shows a rise of 0.62%, which, if it closes in this way, would confirm a streak of five consecutive weekly advances.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks advanced by 0.09%.

In the banking sector, Santander lost 0.95%, BBVA fell 0.94%, Caixabank dropped 0.82%, Sabadell fell 0.19%, Bankinter dropped 0.49%, and Unicaja Banco lost 0.97%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica fell 0.15%, Inditex dropped 0.10%, Iberdrola gained 0.30%, Cellnex gained 0.08%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.15%.

Outside the selective market, Línea Directa lost 0.78%, after reporting a loss of 5.3 million euros in the first quarter, while Tubacex gained 0.38%, after reporting an increase in its net profit in the first quarter to 10.0 million euros year-on-year.

(Information by Benjamín Mejías Valencia; edited by Darío Fernández)