Motor Oil

Stocks on the Greek bourse continued their impressive rally following last Sunday's election with another day of robust growth and turnover, taking the Athens benchmark to a new nine-year high on Friday. Adding to the momentum was the Motor Oil deal for the takeover of a solar energy company that brings it back into partnership with Public Power Corporation.

Neptune Lines on Tuesday announced the acquisiton of another vessel for its fleet, and specifically a carrier able to transport 4,900 passenger vehicles.

The "Neptune Ethos" was launched in 2011, and comes months after the company, led by influential Union of Greek Shipowners president Melina Travlos, acquired its sister ship, the "Neptune Tharros".

The estimate that a collapse of the demand for liquid fuels is possible in the very near future due to high inflation was made by the Deputy CEO of Motor Oil during yesterday's teleconference with analysts.

The Greek stock market is currently doing balance exercises around 890 points, which is unable to change level as the majority of portfolios remain on hold. In particular, the general index is moving with gains of 0.25% at 893., 66 points.

The fourth consecutive day of gains at the Athens bourse gave the the benchmark its biggest advance as it climbed close to the 800-point mark, in line with most other markets that were open on Monday. Turnover topped 50 million euros despite the fact that major markets such as those of the US, Hong Kong and China were closed due to holidays.

Despite the significant decline of the banks index, other stocks at Athinon Avenue welcomed back buyers on Wednesday, with trading volume remaining just above the 50-million-euro mark after the MSCI index restructuring produced no surprises for listed companies. A bank rebound could fuel a further rise over the rest of the week.

The Greek stock market's lowest trading volume of the last 13 sessions saw the benchmark suffer moderate losses on Thursday after three days of gains, as traders again appear reluctant to commit themselves to purchases until the picture regarding the coronavirus tempest clears.

Greek stocks suffered extensive losses at the end of the week, underperforming their peers across most of the continent. While the prospect of the share capital increases in banks takes its toll on the local market in general, the trend for sales was universal, affecting even the majority of small-caps.

A mixed Wednesday on the Greek bourse saw gainers edge out the losers and provided the benchmark with just enough fuel to climb back above the 800-point level, thanks mainly to the growth of bank stocks for the second day in a row.

The impressive rebound by bank stocks led the benchmark at Athinon Avenue back up to within sniffing distance of 800 points, and the risers outnumbered the losers by almost three to one. After three days of decline, it was considered about time for this market recovery, as there is no obvious reason for stocks to head lower at this point.