The beginning of August on the Athens Stock Exchange is hesitant, with investors digesting the strong rise of the previous month (+5.26%), as well as the +14.31% of the seven-month period.

Specifically, in Thursday's (1/8) session, the GI retreated by -0.38% and traded at 1,472.54 points, with a daily high of 1,479.01 points and a daily low of 1,472.21 points. On a technical level, according to analysts, the closest support is at 1,468 points, while 1,481 points is the nearest point of resistance.

All eyes remain on the banking results, as after Piraeus and Eurobank, it was the turn of National Bank today - before the start of the Xetra session. NBG's net profitability improved significantly in the first half of the year, as it stood at EUR 646 million (organic profit after tax), up +27% year-on-year. Net interest income amounted to almost EUR 1.2 billion.

Sellers are now making a measured consolidation of yesterday's gains. The banking index is down -0.3% at 1,301.27 points and the FTSE 25 (high cap) is lower by -0.46% at 3,590.13 points. Meanwhile, the Mid Cap (mid-cap) loses -0.23% to 2,306.81 points.

The smaller Optima is also marginally down, despite a 57% increase in its half-year net profit reported before the open.

On the other hand, Ellaktor is attempting to get a reaction after its 9-day downward streak with a 1.8% gain today, with Jumbo and ELPE showing slight upside.

PPC is down -1.1%, OPAP and OTE around -0.8% and Metlen at -0.55%.

In the mid-cap sector, Intracom and Intralot are down with losses of more than 1%.