The Athens Stock Exchange finally went green, with buyers halting the two-day downward streak, with banks as the main ally.
And the pressure on Coca-Cola may have overshadowed the upward effort, but the Greek market managed to defend the psychological threshold of 1,450 points, maintaining contact with the "tops" of 1,502 points (distance -3.3%).
The slight improvement in sentiment abroad, where the Dow Jones is preparing to halt its 9-day downward streak, provided support for Athens while investor attention is focused on tonight's Federal Reserve decisions.
Specifically, in the third session of the week, the General Index posted a cautious 0.20% gain to 1,455.67 points, up about three points from Tuesday's close (1,452.80 points).
The arc of daily fluctuations was fixed at six points (from 1,452.55 to 1,458.23 points), with trading turnover at 155 million euros, of which 68 million euros were pre-agreed packages.
The banking index, after the recent pressure from the extraordinary measures on commissions, managed to find its upward momentum again, ending up +1.07% and 1,286 points.
Piraeus shares gained +1.79% and 3.915 euros, followed by ΝΒG shares at +1.45% and 7.71 euros, Alpha shares traded +0.57% and 1.594 euros, while Eurobank shares rose +0.73% and 2.211 euros, as it "passed" a package worth 57 million euros at the closing price.
In the high-cap index (+0.33% and 3,543 points), OPAP shares expanded +2.2% and 15.7 euros, with Motor Oil shares gaining 1.3% and returning above 20.5 euros. Hellaktor's shares also gained 1%. On the flip side, Coca-Cola's shares retreated by 1.5% and "fell" below 33 euros (one-month low). OTE and Sarantis shares lost around 1% each. Viohalco, ELVALHALKOR and Titan Cement followed up to -0.8%.
As for the mid-cap index (-0.15% and 2,318 points), the shares of ADMIE stood out positively at +2.3% and EUR 2.58 (a three-year high), while Kri Kri stocks "flew" to +3% and EUR 15.3. On the contrary, the PPA's shares declined by 2.1% to 29.7 euros. Optima, EYATH and Ideal Holdings folded around -1%.
