Beta Securities

The Athens Stock Exchange once again posted very slight gains, but at least the general index reversed four weeks of losses, posting a nearly 3% rise for the week.

The main index gained 0.30% Friday, closing at 1,299.76 points. Turnover was quite low, at €59.6 million. Blue chips gained 0.21% and small-caps 0.43%, while banks lost 0.98%.

Greece raised 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) on Wednesday with strong demand for a new 5-year bond, the day after Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called elections in late May.

Traders said Greece's debt agency was aiming to cover most of the annual borrowing needs before the country entered to a protracted pre-election period.

Greek shares dropped 6 percent on Monday after a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in neighbouring Italy, analysts said.

"The country's proximity to Italy has clearly triggered some concern," Manos Hatzidakis, analyst at Athens-based Beta Securities, told Reuters.

Listed companies performed satisfactorily in the first half of the year, as despite the predictable slowdown during the April-July election period, their momentum on the whole continued to improve, supported by easing taxation and capital gains from bonds and real estate that strengthened their fundamentals.

Investor expectations for a change of government in Athens and the consolidation of a stable financial and tax environment has activated funds toward Greek stocks and bonds in the last few weeks. The question is whether this strong rally can continue and attract quality investors.

The Greek bourse benchmark suffered an eighth consecutive day of losses for the first time in over two years on Thursday on continued pressure from abroad that has mainly hit the banking sector. Beta Securities estimates that the capitalization of the local stock exchange dropped by 2.4 billion euros in those eight sessions.

It has taken exactly six years for profit-making companies to regain the upper hand over loss-makers in the Greek stock market.

The extent of the domestic recession meant that for 72 months - from the fourth quarter of 2010 up to and including the third quarter of 2016 - the number of listed companies with losses came to at least twice those showing profits.

Greek stock brokers are expressing their concern over the scheduled opening of the Athens Stock Market (ATHEX), Monday August 3, according to Reuters. Their fears are fuelled by the bleak state of the Greek economy combined with the uncertainty regarding the future.

Greek companies’ attempts to lure investors are being held back by next month’s European Central Bank health check of its lenders, which is weighing on local stocks.

Executives from 31 listed companies held three days of meetings with investors at the annual Greek Roadshow last week in London, at Bloomberg LP’s European headquarters.

By Angeliki Koutantou

Shares in Greek renewable energy firm ELTECH Anemos dropped on their first day of trading on the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday, as traders said its initial public offering price was seen as expensive.