For yet another day, nervousness and volatility were maintained on the Athens Stock Exchange, although buyers managed to gain momentum and keep the General Index in the 1,420–1,425 range, achieving a weekly gain of 1.3%.
However, cautious sentiment abroad and weak bank performance did not allow for a convincing upward escape, overshadowing the mega-deal at Terna Energy.
All this, while at midday we had the triple derivatives expiration, with the usual restructuring of the FTSE indices following in the early afternoon, which brought a spike in trading value.
More specifically, in today's session, the General Index posted a subtle 0.16% gain to 1,424.04 points, up around 2.5 points from Thursday's close (1,421.71 points).
The arc of daily fluctuations was fixed at 12 points (from 1,415.27 to 1,427.84 points), with a turnover of 224 million euros, of which 7.3 million euros related to pre-agreed packages.
The banking index succumbed to pressure for the second consecutive day, ending down -0.43% at 1,241 points, remaining at a distance of 8% from this year's highs (1,349 points).
Alpha Bank shares fell -1.22% and EUR 1.5015, Piraeus shares slipped -1.03% and EUR 3.463 (5-month low), Eurobank shares rose +0.86% and EUR 2.10, and National Bank shares folded -0.77% and EUR 8.02.
In the high-cap index (+0.15% and 3,453 points), Titan Cement's shares "flew" to +3.20% and recovered 30 euros, with Cenergy's shares expanding to +2.2% and 9.4 euros. Autohellas, Mytilineos, Ellaktor, and OTE gained at least 1% each. On the flip side, Motor Oil shares narrowed to -1.7% and 24.3 euros, with pressure persisting as a result of the extraordinary tax on excess profits. Helleniq Energy also remained below 8 euros, down slightly by 0.1%. Sarantis and EYDAP, meanwhile, lost 2.3% and 2.9%, respectively. Quest, in the last session before being delisted from the 25, closed down -1.5%.
As for the mid-cap index (+68% and 2,272 points), Fourlis' share stood out positively at +3.5% and re-approached 4 euros. Intracom, Dimand, and PPA, at the same time, soared around +3.5%, while Epsilon Net finished +2.5% and 12.3 euros, despite the fact that the public offer of the main shareholders amounts to 12 euros. Conversely, EXAE sank to -3.1% and EUR 4.8, with shares in AVAX, ADMIE, and Austriacard sliding between 1.6% and 2.3%.
