The Athens Stock Exchange took a step backwards today (30/9), with investors liquidating part of their September and 9-month gains, bringing the General Index back to the 1,450 points area.

The event of the day was undoubtedly the start of the placement in Ethniki, where the significant oversubscription (by at least six times) of the offer for 10% of the shares affected the available liquidity, putting pressure on several High and Mid Cap stocks.

All this, as the deadline for the publication of the first half of the year's corporate results expires tonight, with listed companies reporting an average 15% increase in profitability, confirming expectations for this year's financials.

Specifically, at the September finale, the General Index recorded a notable decline of 1.14% to 1,451.90 points, losing almost 17 points compared to Friday's close (1,468.70 points).

The arc of daily fluctuations was fixed at 18 points (from 1,451.09 to 1,469.49 points), with a turnover of 135 million euros, of which 11.8 million euros were pre-agreed packages. 

Returning to today, the banking sector came under significant pressure in the last two hours, ending -2.00% and 1,251 points, while investors focused on the placement of the National Bank of Greece, where offer prices range between 7.3 and 7.95 euros.

NBG's shares slipped significantly to -2.14% and 7.676 euros, Eurobank's shares fell -1.53% and 2.058 euros, Alpha's shares traded -3.67% and 1.558 euros, while Piraeus' shares were limited to -2.65% and 3.826 euros.

In the high-cap index (-1.41% and 3,527 points), OTE shares corrected from 22-month highs and folded sharply to -3.6%, falling below 16 euros. ELVALHALKOR and Jumbo, meanwhile, retreated more than 2%, with Metlen, Aegean, PPC and AIA shares trailing by at least -1%. On the flip side, Titan Cement's shares continued to climb, climbing +0.8% to +0.7% and EUR 35.7 (a new all-time high).

As for the mid-cap index (-0.72% and 2,327 points), PPA shares came under the strongest pressure, standing out at -4.4% and 26.7 euros. Fourlis' shares also fell by 2.4%, while Ideal, AVAX, EXAE EYATH, Intralot and Thrace Plastics lost more than 1%. On the other hand, Lavipharm's shares widened +1.5% and 0.83 euros, with Dimand and Profile shares rising 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively.