MSCI

Greek stocks declined slightly in August's last session at the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), as investors locked in profits, although on a limited scale. What stood out though was the sudden surge in turnover, to €453.75 million.

The Athens Stock Exchange posted mild gains on low turnover Wednesday, but underperformed European markets, which bounced bank after the Italian government watered down a plan for a windfall tax on banks.

The ASE general index closed at 1,317.18 points, up 0.46%, on turnover of €65.65 million. Blue chips gained 0.38% and mid-caps 0.15%, while banks declined 0.26%.

The widely anticipated upgrading of Greece's outlook to "Positive" by Standard & Poor's on Friday was taken in the traders' stride in Monday's bourse session, with many of them engaging in some profit taking that focused on banks and construction companies. Turnover posted a considerable decline though.

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 upcoming rebalancing of the MSCI Greek stock indexes and profit taking after five consecutive days of gains led to losses at Athinon Avenue on Friday, with a huge daily turnover. Notably 70% of trading volume took placing during the closing auctions. The benchmark of the Athens stock market ended May with a monthly advance of 3.87%, though banks lost 2.94%.

Credit sector stocks led the benchmark of the Greek bourse further below the 600-point mark on Wednesday. It followed the relegation of the domestic banks' outlook from positive to stable by Moody's, and the restructuring of the MSCI index, which also sent trading volume to its highest point in 15 sessions.

As daily turnover at Athinon Avenue fell to its lowest in a month on Friday, stocks reverted to a downward course, partly due to the absence of any changes in the MSCI Greece index as expected on Thursday, along with the rise in Greek bond yields.

The Greek stock market appeared unaffected on Monday by the growth momentum observed by its international peers, and recorded a small decline on fairly low turnover. The likely reason was the decision by DBRS Morningstar last Friday not to upgrade Greece's rating, opting instead to upgrade only the country's outlook to "positive."

MSCI will publish its quarterly review of its market indices on Wednesday and analysts said there could be some surprises regarding the composition of the MSCI Greece index.
Last year, MSCI had added Motor Oil.
Last March, investment firm VTB Capital had said MSCI could add Mytilineos Holdings, the energy and metals conglomerate, if its stock price rose by 19-22 percent.

The MSCI Standard Greece index rebalancing, with the return to its ranks of National Bank, and the continued euphoria from political developments in Athens saw the Greek bourse extend its gains on Tuesday and double Monday's daily turnover, as positive reviews from foreign firms and agencies poured in following the announcement of a snap election.