The Athens Stock Exchange continued today (12/8) its effort to recover the lost ground, with buyers leading the General Index close to the highs of the day and a "breath" from the 1,400 resistance level.
Improved psychology abroad, combined with attractive valuations of listed companies, were again the main fuel for the market, which however saw trading volume pegged ahead of August 15.
Despite any positive reaction, of course, Athens is still losing at least -5% since the beginning of August, more than 7% away from this year's high of 1,502 points (closing May 20).
Against this backdrop, in the first session of the new week, the General Index rose by 1.08% to 1,398.20 points, gaining about 15 points compared to Friday's close (1,383.31 points).
The arc of daily fluctuations was fixed at 15 points (from 1,384.64 to 1,399.97 points), with a trading turnover of just 69 million euros, of which 13.6 million euros were for pre-agreed packages.
Tonight, meanwhile, the usual restructuring of MSCI indices is expected. All indications are that there will be no changes for the Greek Standard Greece index, which currently includes 10 stocks.
The banking index managed to move into bullish territory, finishing +1.62% and 1,231 points, bringing down to single digits the distance from this year's high of 1,354 points.
Piraeus shares gained +2.30% and EUR 3.83, Eurobank shares rose +1.53% and EUR 2.019, NBG shares closed +1.76% and EUR 7.51, while Alpha shares followed at +0.58% and EUR 1.55.
In the high-cap index (+1.16% and 3,404 points), Jumbo shares recovered by 2.8% and again exceeded 22 euros after plunging to 15-month lows. Titan and PPC shares followed with gains of more than 2%, with the former recovering 30 euros and the latter approaching 11.5 euros. Motor Oil, EYDAP and Coca-Cola gained more than 1%. On the flip side, Autohellas shares fell by around 2%, with Elvalhalcor shares following at -0.9%.
As for the mid-cap index (+0.93% and 2,220 points), Fourlis' shares stood out positively at +3.2% and EUR 3.8, while Dimand, Plastic Thrace and Optima Bank closed up more than +2%. Kri Kri, ADMIE and Austriacard rose by at least 1%. In contrast, shares of Ideal, Profile and Intracom fell by 1%.
