The stock market moved at the pace of "window dressing" in the last session of a year that gave returns of 13.53% at the level of the general index and 21.44% at the level of the banking index. The market engaged, for the most part, in a final "pampering" of valuations, with trading activity remaining low on the basis of the absence of foreign managers.

2024 ended with mixed feelings in the market. The two-speed term accurately describes the market's performance as while the overall picture remained stable, digesting the impressive gains of 2023 (+39.08%), the banking sector and a few select stocks posted significant gains. The mid-cap closed with significantly smaller gains, reminding us that the previous period had given very large gains that needed time to be absorbed.

As a result of the above, the stock market capitalization "inflated" by at least €15 billion in 2024, as it went from €87.4 billion at the end of 2023 to the €102.9 billion range at the end of today's session.

The year's winners include a number of blue chips, such as Titan Cement, which rose 87% in 2024. They were followed by Optima with +61%, GEK TERNA with 40%, Eurobank with +38%, Sarantis with +30%, Cenergy with +29%, Terna Energy with +25%, Coca-Cola with +24%, Ethniki with +21% and Piraeus with +20%.

In the mid-cap, despite the broader under-performance, Kri Kri (+56%), PPA (+30%), Profile (+22%) and ADMIE +16%) managed to stand out, while in the small-cap the top performance belonged to Q&R, which "flew" to +95%. Equally impressive were the changes for Moda Bagno (+93%), Alumil (+48%), ILYDA (+46%), Unibios (+43%) and Evrofarma (+43%).

On the other hand, 2024 had some... losers, with Metlen losing 9%, Motor Oil down 14%, Aegean sliding 11% and Hellaktor shrinking 13%. In the "mid-caps", the biggest losses were seen in ABAX (-17%), Autohellas (-20%), Dimand (-22%) and EXAE (-15%).