The African mutation Covid evaporated € 3 billion from the Stock Exchange

More than 40 points, or almost 3 billion euros, was the first “damage” suffered by the Athens Stock Exchange from the sweeping wave of the new African coronavirus mutation, as well as the range of strict restrictive measures, in the model of the first outbreak of the pandemic, has fallen all over the world, but also in Greece.

In particular, the general index closed with losses of 4.45% at 858.93 points, while today it moved between 857.92 points (-4.57%) and 892.51 points (-0.72%). The turnover amounted to 123.5 million euros and the volume to 62.3 million units, while 4.2 million units were traded through pre-agreed transactions.

The index of high capitalization closed with a fall of 4.61%, at 2,058.55 points, while at -4.55% Mid Cap completed the transactions at 1,464.17 points. The banking index closed with losses of 6.41% at 546.35 points.

At the weekly level, the general index closed with losses of 6.12%, while the FTSE 25 fell by 6.68%. The dip in the banking index reached 9.94%.

At the same time, the picture in the other markets of Europe and the USA does not differ, as the pan-European index Stoxx 600 dips 2.7%, the German DAX falls 2.95%, the French CAC-40 loses 3.7%, while the British FTSE 100 is falling 2.95%. In the periphery, the Italian FTSE MIB loses 3.2%, while the Spanish IBEX-35 drops 4%.

Wall Street is in the same climate. The Dow Jones industrial average is down 916 points, or 2.56%, and the broader S&P 500 is slipping 1.83%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq is down 227.7 points or 1.44%.

Black Friday

The Black Friday of the big discounts in the retail trade also hit the markets after the announcement of the new coronary mutation by the World Health Organization, reports M. Hatzidakis of Beta Securities. Uncertainty and fear have returned to the investment landscape to erase the progress made so far in fighting the pandemic. After all, fear is a much more intense and contagious emotion, especially when it comes to shopping.

Calm will return to the system when there is more evidence to address the new mutation or alleviate the concerns that are currently at the forefront. The reason that the liquidations are intense and concern everyone is also related to the fatigue of many months from a state of emergency which does not seem to be able to escalate. The feeling that humanity was heading towards the end of this situation or a more effective management that would lead to a normality has been revised, without it being possible at the moment to determine whether we are returning to the beginning or the middle of the course of the last two years.

In a scenario where panic has the first say, the discussion of valuations is almost out of the question. With its current image, the market has approached capital increase prices where there were over-coverage and high demand (Alpha Bank, Piraeus, PPC, Aegean) or dividends promise returns that compete with high-risk bonds (OPAP, Titan, Jumbo, Quest) or multipliers profits are moving at abnormally low levels (Petropoulos, Plastics of Thrace).

The trading levels of most stocks can be considered attractive but require brave psychological transgressions in the face of the strongly charged negative image of the markets. Due to the special circumstances that prevail again, the gradual entry into companies that have been proven so far to successfully deal with the pandemic in their size may be the best tactic.

The technical image

Technically, Friday’s meeting was enough to undo signals, uptrends and a long-term uptrend. The General Index breathlessly cut the sideways upward trend line, moving rapidly towards 855 points. Along the way, it broke the 200-day moving average, a very important chart development, returning to a downward market position after November 16, 2020. Friday’s meeting was indicative of the intentions of the sellers who moved with a turnover of over 120 million euros. in a permanently declining tempo having the absolute control of the trend dominating absolutely until the end of the session.

The oscillators first came in contact with the undervalued price zones after September 28, but were not particularly moved by their approach. Although the 855 units have some support properties, the 830 units seem more robust to give an upward response. Most likely, the next meetings will continue in the pattern of intense volatility as the nature of the events in the foreground will intensify the nervousness of investors, concludes Mr. Hatzidakis.

Dashboard

On the board now, Alpha Bank closed with losses of 8.18%, Piraeus lost 7.90%, Aegean 6.77%, with Biochalko, Mytilineo, ELHA and Eurobank closing with a drop of more than 5%. PPC, Ethniki, Hellenic Petroleum, Lambda, OPAP, Titan, Terna Energy, Motor Oil and Coca Cola closed above -4%.

The fall in GEK Terna and Jumbo reached 3.52% and 3.11% respectively, while more than 2% were the losses in IPTO, OTE, HELEX and EYDAP. Losses at Ellactor stopped at 1.98%, at PPA at 1.97%, while Sarantis was reduced to just -0.23%.