The Athens Stock Exchange continued the moody behaviour of July, with buyers returning to the driving seat, boosted by the temporarily improved climate abroad.

Despite the rebound to 1,420 points, however, the impossibility of a convincing escape to levels above 1,430 points is more than evident, a sign of volatility and low visibility.

Besides, let's not forget that markets are on the verge of major political developments in Europe, with the focus primarily on France and secondarily on the UK.

Against this backdrop, the General Index rose significantly by 1.17% to a daily high of 1,423.56 points, gaining 16.5 points compared to Tuesday's close of 1,407.03 points.

The arc of daily fluctuations was fixed at 13 points (from 1,410.41 to 1,423.57 points), with a turnover of 75 million euros, of which 5.7 million euros were pre-agreed packages.

On the board, Metlen gained dynamically above 36 euros, while Alpha and Piraeus recovered 3% and 2%, respectively. OTE, meanwhile, expanded by at least 1.5%, while Cenergy flew to an all-time high of 9.9 euros following its investment in the US.

The banking index managed to maintain a positive bias throughout the day, finishing +1.09% and 1,242 points, almost 8% away from this year's highs.

Alpha Bank's share stood out at +3.21% and EUR 1.61; Piraeus' share rose +2.10% and EUR 3.592; NBG's share closed +1.07% and EUR 7.78; and Eurobank's share was slightly reduced to -0.72% and EUR 2.055.

In the high-cap index (+1.35% and 3,468 points), Metlen shares gained 2.6% and returned to 36.4 euros, with Lamda and Aegean shares gaining more than 2%. At the same time, Ellaktor's shares were up +2% and 2.54 euros, with the cut-off of the 0.5 euro capital return option to follow on July 22. Shares of Coca-Cola, Jumbo, GEK Terna, and OTE also rose by at least 1%, while Viohalco's shares soared to +3.5% and 5.9 euros, respectively. Finally, Cenergy's shares closed at a new all-time high (9.9 euros) after the new project in the US.

As for the mid-cap index (+0.47% and 2,259 points), Intracom shares, after yesterday's fall as a result of the return of capital, reacted to +2.9% and 3.3 euros. Intralot shares also gained more than 3%, returning to 1.20 euros. Kri Kri, Austriacard, AVAX, and Profile gained between +1.4% and +2.4%. In contrast, EXAE shares lost 1.8% and retreated to EUR 4.7.