OTE topped FTSE20, while the performance of Alpha Bank, Eurobank and Bank of Cyprus stood out, ending at session’s high.
European Central Bank’s decision to freeze its key interest rate along with
the statements of its president stayed on spotlight. Jean-Claude Trichet appeared less worries about inflationary pressures but gave no indications of an increase of interest rates in the future.
Bond market remains a key factor to the domestic market’s trend ahead of the European Summit on Friday, according to analysts. The narrowing of Greek bond spreads helped the banks rise and allowed the diversion of buying interest to other large caps.
"This session was still positive if wait and see on expectations that we will hear some measures Friday at the EU level for the resolution of Greek debt crisis, even if the full details will not be announced," Vasilis Konstandinidis, head of trading at Fortius Finance told Dow Jones Newswires.
"Real money accounts have come back to the Athens market with foreign investors snapping up banks and covering short positions. Meanwhile, local institutional are taking some profits. The market could ease next week but we don’t expect serious selling pressure," he added.
Across the board, the General Index ended at 1675.14 units, up 0.67%, in a margin of 1.6%. Approximately 55.54mn units were traded worth EUR117.4mn, while a total amount of 78 shares posted gains, 94 declined and 126 remained unchanged.
Banks fluctuated in a large margin of 43.25 units or 2.89%, before ending at 1514.26, up 1.29%. Highlight was the rise of Attica Bank and Proton Bank by 12.75% and 11.83% respectively, while Alpha Bank, Eurobank and Bank of Cyprus climbed by 2.46%, 1.84% and 1.81% respectively. Piraeus Bank and Marfin Popular Bank declined by 1.18% and 0.9% respectively.
Across FTSE20, apart from banks, OTE soared by 5.6%, while Viohalco and Mytilineos rose by 2% and 1.86% respectively.
source: capital
