The Spanish Ibex-35 index closed Tuesday with a slight rise in a session lacking in macro references, which led investors to dig in as they try to elucidate the course of central banks' monetary policy.

The selective index turned around in the final stages of the session, after trading in the red for a good part of the day, due to the lack of conviction towards purchases.

Disparate data from both sides of the pond hindered stock market traders from assessing the state of health of the global economy and, therefore, trying to anticipate the central bankers' next maneuvers.

The first move was made by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which opted to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, surprising markets, which had been leaning towards a pause. Next week it will be the turn of the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

With such important dates, the interpretation of economic data is a challenge.

Unexpected drops in both German factory orders and Spanish industrial production, which were released on Tuesday, reinforce the idea of a slowdown in growth. However, in parallel, the most recent labor market figures show more strength than expected in both Europe and the United States, thus disorienting investors.

According to Joaquín Robles, analyst at XTB, the markets have entered a complex period in which the real impact of the rate hike is beginning to be seen and, given the doubts about the depth of the ongoing economic deterioration, each piece of data can offer ambiguous readings.

"The indices are doing very well -- the French CAC remains at record highs -- and investors need to see positive catalysts to justify those rises. (As a result), they remain vigilant," he said.

"They are confident that the recession will be mild, but they know that after the collapse of Credit Suisse, any black swan can suddenly appear," he said.

Against this backdrop, Spain's selective Ibex-35 stock market closed up 21.70 points on Tuesday, up 0.23%, to 9,310.80 points, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 index of large European stocks rose 0.39%.

In the banking sector, Santander rose 0.82%, BBVA gained 0.22%, Caixabank gave up 0.06%, Sabadell gained 1.27%, Bankinter gained 0.86% and Unicaja Banco rose 0.33%.

Among the large non-financial stocks, Telefónica fell 2.04%, Inditex dropped 0.66%, Iberdrola gained 0.99%, Cellnex gained 0.13%, and the oil company Repsol rose 0.38%.

Outside the Ibex, the pharmaceutical company Pharma Mar gained 10.53% after announcing the acceptance of the registration application for the approval of lurbinectedin in China for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic small-cell lung cancer.

(Reporting by Matteo Allievi; edited by Tomás Cobos)