Stock market: PPC saved the sign

Intense nervousness and a variation arc that touched 15 units was the picture displayed today by the Athens Stock Exchange which, with the help of PPC and against the pressure of many stocks, managed to keep the levels of 840 units.

In particular, the general index closed with an increase of 0.19% at 844.78 points, while today it moved between 851.13 points (+0.94%) and 836.58 points (-0.78%).

The turnover amounted to 68.54 million euros and the volume to 26.55 million pieces while, through pre-agreed transactions, 366.79 thousand pieces were traded.

The high capitalization index closed with a marginal increase of 0.05% at 2,029.21 points, while the Mid Cap ended trading at +0.16% at 1,337.23 points. The banking index closed down 0.78% at 541.12 points.

For the week, the broad index lost 5.44% and the FTSE 25 fell 5.98%. The banking index fell 7.70% in the five-day period.

Back to the fall

The arrival of September was accompanied by major movements in the bond markets, with the main characteristic being the opening of yields, observes M. Hatzidakis of Beta Securities. Markets are gearing up to welcome the ECB’s decisions next Thursday, September 8 to raise key intervention rates next week, with consensus estimates hovering in the range of 50 to 75 basis points.

However, attention will remain on interest rates until September 21 when the FED will announce the new level of US interest rates, while giving an indication of its intentions for the period remaining until the end of the year. It is the first time since 1990 that bond markets have lost more than 20% from their highs, typically entering a long-term downtrend, marking the worst year in their history.

The rise in bond yields has led to an increase in the risk premium for stocks, which have not remained unmoved following a downward trend. At the same time, the high level of electricity prices adds another risk to the nervousness of markets, as Europe heads into winter with uncertain natural gas supplies.

Technical picture

What the General Index had been building up laboriously since the beginning of July fell easily in the last sessions of August. The market turned lower, briefly cutting the 200-day moving average.

Both the 50- and 30-day time series were split, while the market’s rapid plunge made up for losses of 7% from the start of the decline, before the General Index partially recovered in Friday’s session. The ongoing formation refers to what happened in June this year, when the decline found a first level of support towards 815 units.

The bearish scenario is currently dominant as the oscillators on their daily charts leave open the possibility of further downside until they enter undervalued price zones. Shrinking turnover and reducing daily swings can be seen as a good indication of some temporary pause in selling intensity before the start of an upward correction, concludes Mr Hatzidakis.

On the dashboard

On the board now, PPC jumped 6.11%, with Aegean, Biochalco, Piraeus and Titan following with gains that exceeded 1%. GEK Terna, ELHA, Lambda, Coca Cola and Motor Oil closed slightly higher.

On the other hand, Ethniki, Quest, Ellactor, Sarantis, EYDAP, ADMIE and Alpha Bank ended with losses of more than 1%, while OPAP, Hellenic Petroleum, PPA, Eurobank, Jumbo and Mytileneos closed slightly lower. Terna Energy and OTE closed unchanged.