OPAP

September began at Athinon Avenue with concerns expressed by traders after the first hour related to the global economy and the fear of stagflation. That led the benchmark to losses of almost 1% and a drop below the 1,300-point mark on Friday.

Greek stocks dropped slightly Wednesday after four sessions with cumulative gains of 1.90%. The general index closed at 1,316.94 points, a drop of 0.11%, although it was up 0.30% at one point.

Turnover was €95.54 million with 24,001,624 shares changing hands. Of the 120 shares traded, 43 rose, 61 declined and 16 ended unchanged.

Blue chips slipped 0.12% and mid-caps 0.37%.

The stock market could not hold on to early gains Wednesday after deteriorating Purchase Managers' Index (PMI) numbers soured the mood in European markets.

The general index closed at 1,293.73 points, down 0.52%, on a low turnover of €71.7 million. Blue chips dropped 0.61%, mid-caps 0.31% and banks 0.15%

The Athens stock market rebounded strongly Monday, on the back of bank shares' performance and positions on other blue chips.

The general index ended up 1.74%, at 1,285.27 points, on turnover of €108.5 million.

For the second session in a row, the Athens Stock Exchange posted mild gains on Thursday, with investors being very selective with their picks, consistent with the prevailing nervousness in global markets as they brace for a Fed move to raise its rates once again in the coming months.

A subdued session saw Greek stocks decline slightly on Thursday, in contrast to the gains in other European markets.

Most banks and blue chips faced selling pressure, but not excessively.

The ASE general index closed at 1,313.20 points, 0.30% lower on turnover of €84.9 million. Blue chips dropped 0.31%, mid-caps 0.24% and banks 0.13%.

The Greek stock market ended the last week before the general election with gains, which made it the third consecutive week of growth for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue. The market appears calm ahead of the polls, in contrast with what is happening on the other side of the Aegean, while turnover in Athens increased on Friday thanks to maturing of the month's derivatives.

OPAP, the leading gaming operator in Greece, said net profits jumped 128.3% to 592.3 million euros in 2022 from €259.4 million in 2021, with fourth-quarter net profit at €306.5 million (boosted by a €181.3 million profit from the sale of Betano), an increase of 277.6% from the same period in 2021.

The reaction of Greek stocks to several days of decline, which had even put the benchmark's grip on the 1,000-point mark at risk, finally arrived on Tuesday, with banks leading the recovery of prices at Athinon Avenue. The advance accelerated after the announcement of inflation data from the US, with the main index closing near the day's highs.

The rising sequence of 11 weeks came to an emphatic end on Friday, with the Greek bourse benchmark this week losing a significant portion of the ground gained over the last month. This was topped by a strong decline on the day, amounting to almost 2.5 percentage points, driven by international concern over banks, which also affected the local credit sector's prospects.