The Athens Stock Exchange is trying to assimilate part of the gains, which is making a short stop before the 1,500 resistance level, while the sellers are (temporarily) regaining the reins of the Greek market.

There has been an uninterrupted rally of 35% since the lows of last October (1,111 points), which reasonably creates the need to consolidate the recent strong gains. Against this backdrop, therefore, investors are choosing to take a brief pause before attempting to approach the 1,500 resistance level, which is the next key target.

More specifically, in the first session of the week, the General Index is down mildly by 0.53% to 1,476.17 points, losing about eight points compared to Friday's close (1,484.06 points).

The banking index digests last week's 8-year highs, retracing -0.68% and 1,282 points, pending the new first quarter results.

Alpha Bank shares retreat to -1.46% and EUR 1.62, National Bank shares fall to -0.47% and EUR 8.062, Eurobank shares narrow to -0.91% and EUR 2.06, while Piraeus shares are unchanged at EUR 3.86.

In the high-cap index (-0.67% and 3,574 points), OTE's share is down 2% and retreats to 14.1 euros. The shares of Mytilineos, Terna Energy, GEK Terna, Viohalco and Lamda Development also show losses of more than 1%. On its side, the share of Sarantis loses about 2.5%. On the flip side, Ellaktor's shares climb +3.9% and EUR 2.79, flirting with 10-year highs. And Quest shares, which is close to selling its ACS subsidiary, are up +1.7% and 5.8 euros.

As for the mid-cap index (-0.44% and 2,382 points), AVAX shares stand out positively at +4.7% and 1.53 euros, with Lavipharm shares following at +2.9% and 0.87 euros. Profile's shares, meanwhile, expand by 1%. On the other hand, shares of Austriacard, Intrakat, EHAE, EYATH, Intracom Holdings, Techniki Olympiaki and Kri- Kri fold by at least 1%.