The Athens Stock Exchange managed to recover exactly what it lost yesterday, with buyers returning to the "reins" and bringing the market back within striking distance of the 1,450 points.

Selective supports worked effectively and absorbed imported pressure from abroad, where investor sentiment remains nervous amid mixed US labour market data.

Somehow, Athens continued its self-improvement and diversification efforts, driven by upbeat corporate fundamentals and expectations of the upcoming DBRS - Moody's verdicts. 

Specifically, in the 4th session of the week, the General Index rose slightly by 0.75% to 1,446.56 points, gaining 10.7 points compared to Wednesday's close (1,435.79 points).

The arc of daily fluctuations was fixed at nine points (from 1,439.93 to 1,448.31 points), with the turnover of transactions exceeding 104 million euros, of which 18.7 million euros were related to pre-agreed packages. 

The banking index, despite the support from last night's Fitch upgrade and Goldman Sachs' new price targets, ended marginally up at +0.37% and 1,265 points.

Eurobank's share strengthened +1.33% and 2.057 euros, Piraeus' share followed at +0.45% and 3.992 euros, Alpha's share traded +0.71% and 1.57 euros, while NBG share folded -0.67% and 7.69 euros.

In the high-cap index (+0.88% and 3,514 points), Jumbo shares rallied +5.6% and 24.3 euros (high since August 1), with investors welcoming share buybacks. Aegean's shares also gained 2%, again exceeding 11.5 euros. Autohellas, Metlen, Viohalco and PPC rose by at least 1%, while Motor Oil was up +1.2% and returned to 22 euros. On the flip side, shares of Ellaktor and OPAP narrowed by 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively.

As for the mid-cap index (+0.43% and 2,345 points), Profile shares stood out dynamically at +5.7% and 5.2 euros, approaching the historical highs of 5.3 euros. Intralot and Quest gained 1.7%, while shares of EXAE followed at +0.9% and 4.7 euros. In contrast, Intracom shares slid controllably to -0.8% and EUR 3.1.