The Athens Stock Exchange is exploring the potential to start September on a positive note, looking for an escape from the 1,430 zone in order to gain momentum in a day that is expected to be low internationally due to the Wall Street holiday.

Specifically, the General Index is trading at 1,433.3 points with a small gain of 0.15% and turnover at 27 million euros, while 4.8 million pieces have been traded.

Motor Oil with trades of over 6 million euros is now moving with little change (-0.18%), while the morning saw buying up to 21.98 euros (+1.28%).

Boosting the market are attempts to give OPAP +1.9%, OTE +1.7%, and Sarantis, which is up 2% ahead of the announcement of its half-year figures.

Mixed trends in banks, with Piraeus, which was the only bullish in August (albeit by a marginal +0.21%), continuing today at +1.1% and Alpha slightly up at +0.3%. 

In contrast, ΝΒG is down slightly by 0.3% and Eurobank is more pressured at -1.3%. Meanwhile, after a strong week at +8.15% the smaller Optima shows corrective sentiment at -1.85%.

At the centre of the sellers' moves in the FTSE, apart from Eurobank, is Autohellas at -2.4% but with an imperceptible turnover of just €14k.

Ellaktor is narrowing its own losses now to -0.2%, with CEK Terna, Metlen, and Coca-Cola also slightly down. In the mid-caps beyond Optima, Intralot is down 1.8% and Intrakat is down -1.4%, while Profile jumps 3.4%.