The protagonist of the previous days, namely the National Bank of Greece, may have left its foot off the gas, but this did not prevent the Athens Stock Exchange from continuing its upward trend and completing its 4th consecutive positive session.

Somehow, the Greek market saw the change since the beginning of the current week widen by more than 3%, bringing the General Index back to the 1,470 area and "dropping" below 3% the distance from this year's "peaks" of 1,502.

And all this, while investors kept their eyes on the crucial placement of the National Bank of Greece, which is scheduled for next week, and on the first half corporate figures, which come to confirm the high expectations for this year's profitability.

At the same time, the fact that foreign stock markets remained at historic highs, as has been the case for several days now with the German DAX or the US S&P 500, provided additional support to the Greek market, which closed near its best point of the day.

Specifically, in the 4th session of the week, the General Index recorded a remarkable 0.63% increase to 1,471.26 points, gaining nine points compared to Wednesday's close (1,462.06 points).

The arc of daily fluctuations was fixed at 12 points (from 1,462.37 to 1,474.67 points), with a turnover of 139 million euros, of which 8.5 million euros were pre-agreed packages. 

The banking index managed to continue the positive movement, further trimming the distance from this year's peaks of 1,354 points. As a result, it ended up +0.55% and 1,286 points.

ΝΒG shares, as mentioned above, fell slightly to -0.66% and 7.808 euros, while Eurobank shares widened to +2.21% and 2.124 euros, Piraeus shares closed +0.77% and 3.95 euros, and Alpha shares followed at +0.31% and 1.625 euros.

In the high-cap index (+0.76% and 3,589 points), Titan Cement's shares continued to climb into uncharted territory, gaining +2.7% and 35 euros, thanks also to NBG Securities' new price target (41 euros). Jumbo's shares also gained 2.5%, which saw its first-half profitability improve by 14%. At the same time, Metlen's shares were in the green for the 6th consecutive session (+0.5%). Motor Oil, Hellaktor and Aegean were up 1.7%, 2.5% and 3.7%, respectively. In contrast, ELVALHALKOR's shares retreated to -1.2% and EUR 1.92.

As for the mid-cap index (+0.03% and 2,349 points), ADMIE shares stood out again today, as they gained +1.7% and 2.39 euros, setting an immediate target to break through the resistance of 2.42 euros. AVAX shares also returned to 1.5 euros, soaring +3.6%, with Kri Kri shares following at +3% and 13.4 euros, equaling the all-time record. On the flip side, Optima Bank's share price narrowed to -1.2% and fell below EUR 13. Thrace Plastics, EVATH and Dimand fell by around 1%.