The Stock Exchange wiped out the losses of the pandemic

For the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Athens Stock Exchange managed to “extinguish” the big dive brought by the unprecedented conditions created by the lockdowns, after reaching the level of 950 units after two whole years, with a mini rally in the last 15 meetings.

In particular, the General Index closed with gains of 1.69% at 950.38 points, while today it moved between 935.54 points (+ 0.10%) and 952.32 points (+ 1.89%). The turnover amounted to 128.4 million euros and the volume to 52.4 million units, while 2.2 million units were traded through pre-agreed transactions.

The index of high capitalization closed with an increase of 1.66%, at 2,298.83 points, while at + 2.60% Mid Cap completed the transactions at 1,575.57 points. The banking index closed with gains of 1.10% at 645.66 points.

A great cry of relief was “heard” today from Athens Avenue, as after two whole years, the General Index exceeded 950 points (7-year high – 9/12/2014), leaving behind a period that will remain in history. Of course, this split, which according to technical analysts paves the way for the 1,000 units, left a bittersweet taste, as if you compare the levels of the banking index you will find that today it is at 640 – 650 units, while on January 24 2020 (when the DG was at 949.20 points), the banking was at 887 points.

So the bet is twofold: to maintain the levels until the end of the week and to fill the banking sector this backlog, since these two years there has been a “Herculean” attempt to clear the bank balance sheets, with great success. And as Apostolos Manthos of Aenaon Markets reminds us, the completion of an upward escape of the banking index above the zone of 640 to 650 units will open the landscape for the big uphill road that leads to the passage of 800 units since this territory of 150 units does not have strong resistance due to the erratic sinking caused by hearing of the upcoming health crisis in February 2020.

However, foreign analysts continue to be positive about Greek assets, with HSBC declaring overweight in shares. Of course, no one can overlook the fact that in the last quarter of 2021 foreign analysts were unanimous about the prospects of the Greek economy and several listed companies, but the ATHEX remained mired in its multi-month accumulation.

HSBC also relied on the combination of strong cyclical recovery and cheap valuations to recommend Overweight to Greek stocks in the first quarter of 2022. And based on average market forecasts, the P / E in the Greek market as a whole is placed at 10.9x for 2021 and at 9.4x for 2022. The increase in profitability is set at 15.4% for 2022.

On the board

On the board now, Jumbo closed with a jump of 4.99%, with Quest, ELHA, Hellenic Petroleum, GEK Terna and Titan following it with an increase of more than 3%. Mytilineos, Motor Oil, Terna Energy, OPAP, IPTO and PPA closed above + 2%.

Profits in Alpha Bank, Aegean, Viohalko, Lambda, PPC, OTE and Ethniki exceeded 1%, while Sarantis, Eurobank, Ellactor, EYDAP and Piraeus closed slightly higher. Coca Cola restrained market growth with -0.69%.