In the tug of war the Stock Exchange

With a lot of nervousness and several sign exchanges in most of its titles, the Athens Stock Exchange managed to keep the levels of 900 points, although intra-conference it was under a lot of pressure, especially due to international uncertainty.

In particular, the General Index closed with a marginal drop of 0.01% to 900.35 points, while it moved between 904.07 points (+ 0.40%) and 894.98 points (-0.61%). The turnover amounted to 62.71 million euros and the volume to 19.72 million units, while 1.82 million units were traded through pre-agreed transactions.

The high capitalization index closed with a marginal drop of 0.04%, at 2,181.23 points, while at -0.13% the Mid Cap completed the trading at 1,458.34 points. The banking index closed with losses of 0.16% at 623.33 points.

International uncertainty remains

After “visiting” the 894 units but also trying to reverse the negative climate reaching up to 904 units, finally the Stock Exchange did what was expected: to keep the levels until there is better visibility from the international environment, which today monopolized the interest and of Athens Avenue.

The big day of Fed policy change has arrived, with the whole world waiting for the first rate hike by the US Federal Reserve from 2018. The Fed’s key interest rate will increase by 50 basis points, while the quantitative easing will accelerate, with the biggest market concerns being whether such a decision would lead the economy into recession.

Apart from this front, however, the Stock Exchange is also monitoring the implications of the European Commission’s new proposal for sanctions on Russia’s oil exports due to its invasion of Ukraine. In other words, European Union countries will stop importing Russian oil and refined products, but it is not yet clear how governments will meet their needs.

However, what a stock market source in Capital.gr points out is that if the Stock Exchange manages to come out with the least possible losses from the turmoil of the war in Ukraine (and the secondary effects, such as the energy crisis), then it will secure an important position in portfolios of foreigners. After all, it is the market that, while valued in euros, has lagged behind other European and developed markets.

In fact, as JP Morgan points out today, one of the positives of the Greek market, which will support the bull case, is the fact that some Greek banks will record ROE return ratios of more than 10%, while Greece also benefits from fact that it belongs to the Eurozone and will receive strong support from the funds of the Recovery Fund that have begun to flow. In addition, as JP Morgan points out, Greek stock valuations are low.

On the board

On the board now, Ellactor closed with a jump of 3.52%, with Terna Energy, Motor Oil, Jumbo, Eurobank, EYDAP, Lambda and GEK Terna following with an increase of more than 1%. Aegean, OPAP, Viohalko and Mytilineos recorded mild gains.

On the other hand, Quest lost 2.18%, with OTE, Saranti, PPC and Ethniki closing with losses of more than 1%. ELHA, Piraeus, IPTO, Alpha Bank closed slightly lower. Coca Cola and Greek Petroleum. Titan and PPA closed unchanged.