Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Greek Stocks move higher

Athens Stock Exchange regains its upward trend on Wednesday, after two intense sessions, helped by Nikkei’s relief rally.

The market reacted violently higher on Monday, in the wake of the European Summit resolutions, but declined sharply the very next day. Today, the General Index is moving on positive grounds, gaining up to 3.06%.

Banking index climbs by up to 4.28%, with all of its titles in positive territory, while Alpha Bank, MIG and Eurobank top FTSE20’s profits.

“The General Index had a nervous session yesterday mainly affected by the new negative developments in Japan and the concerns of the markets internationally”, said Pegasus Securities in its morning report.

Pegasus expected a positive beginning due to the encouraging yesterday session of the Asian markets while volatility is expected to remain during the day.

The cautiousness regarding the buying mood could be fueled by Portugal’s downgrade by Moody’s, stemming the narrowing of government bond spreads that was witnessed after the European Summit, while some interest could be seen on OPAP and Motor Oil, ahead of the 4Q10/FY10 results that are going to be announced today.

Across the board, the General Index is at 1624.89 points, up 2.17%, moving into positive territory since the beginning of the meeting. The turnover stands at EUR 52mn, while a total amount of 80 shares rise, 23 decline and 20 remain unchanged.

Banks are at 1410.02 units, up 3.27%. Proton Bank, Alpha Bank and Eurobank soar by 4.94%, 4.88% and 4.54% respectively, while Piraeus Bank, Hellenic Postbank and National Bank gain 3.97%, 3.5% and 3.23% respectively.



source: CAPITAL