After the notable advance of the previous session, the Spanish IBEX 35 stock index started Tuesday without major variations, in a day that could have a transitional tone pending political and macroeconomic news.

Pending the US consumer deflator - an inflation indicator also known as PCE - on Friday and the first round of the French elections at the weekend, equities could opt for caution.

Friday's trading day will also bring price indicators from several European countries that will give clues about inflation for the eurozone as a whole to be known next week, so investors may have a clearer idea of the next steps of the major central banks.

"Friday will be a busy day with respect to inflation expectations as price indicators are released in Europe and the US, for which modest pullbacks are expected. This is the most important thing because if, indeed, inflation declines, then expectations of rate cuts are reinforced and that would reactivate, a little more, stock markets and bonds," Bankinter said in a report.

"The week will depend on Friday's inflation, which could encourage stock markets and bonds (...) if the tension over the French elections does not spoil it, which is not unlikely," these analysts summarized.

The chief executive of the Euronext stock exchange platform said Tuesday that the possibility of a politically extremist party - such as the far-right National Rally (RN), which is leading the polls - with little or no government experience coming to power after the French parliamentary elections worries investors.

Tuesday's main benchmarks will be Spain's revised GDP for the first quarter (0700 GMT) and the Conference Board's US consumer confidence indicator (1400 GMT).

Overall, at 0705 GMT on Tuesday, Spain's selective IBEX 35 stock market index was down 4.20 points, or 0.04%, to 11,167.90 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks was down 0.35%.

The banking sector, which on Monday made significant gains in a context of higher interest rates for longer than expected at the beginning of the year, extended its gains on Tuesday.

Santander was up 0.25%, BBVA gained 0.34%, Caixabank advanced 0.76%, Sabadell gained 0.22%, Bankinter gained 0.36% and Unicaja Banco rose 0.70%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica gained 0.17%, Inditex fell 0.68%, Iberdrola gained 0.12%, Cellnex fell 0.16%, and the oil company Repsol rose 1.18%.

(Information by Tomás Cobos; edited by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)