The Athens Stock Exchange is recording a new moderate rise in the market with a view to tonight's S&P rating. The house has given a positive outlook on its BBB- recommendation for the Greek economy, and as such, an upgrade is on the table.

The General Price Index at 11:35 a.m. is at 1,443.6 points, up 0.35% with the value of transactions above 14 million euros.

The high-cap index is up 0.55%, while the mid-cap index is almost unchanged. The banking index continues to recover by 0.6% with Piraeus leading the way, followed by Alpha, Eurobank and ETE with more limited gains. 

Among the high-cap stocks, Mytilineos, Titan, Viohalco and Piraeus are the biggest risers. On the contrary, the biggest decrease is recorded by the shares of EYDAP, Aegean and GEK TERNA.

At the same time, euro markets are mostly up with investors evaluating the latest ECB monetary policy decision and growth data for China, the world's second largest economy.

The European Central Bank cut interest rates on Thursday by 25 basis points to 3.25%, making it the first consecutive rate cut since 2011. While the cut was widely expected, the faster pace of rate cuts suggests a deteriorating economic outlook amid signs that inflation is increasingly under control.