Viohalco

Banks supported the fresh increase of the Greek bourse benchmark to another eight-year high on Wednesday, as the trend of the local market remains upward in spite of the odd case of cashing in the significant gains of the last few weeks. Some more extensive profit-taking appears overdue, but buyers continue to have reasons for raising stock prices.

Non-bank blue chips outperformed on Friday at the Greek stock market to take the benchmark to yet another eight-year high, with the wave of stock buying that started in late December continuing unabated. In these first four weeks of the year the main index has added just under 10%.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market may have seen its rising streak snap on Tuesday, but that was only marginally, as its decline was negligible and the overall course appears unchanged, despite the minor profit taking on the day. The maintenance of turnover at a relatively high level also bodes well for the next few sessions.

The outlook for Greece's sovereign credit rating to return to investment grade and the 50-million-euro package of Mytilineos shares that changed hands on Monday gave a fresh boost to the Greek stock market at the beginning of the week, with its benchmark climbing to highs unseen in almost 11 months. This was the sixth consecutive session of gains for the bourse.

The benchmark at Athinon Avenue registered yet another eight-month high on Wednesday, as traders appear willing to test the waters around 950 points, while daily turnover is also picking up pace. This was the fourth straight day of stock growth and the eighth session of gains for the main index in the last 11, extending the upward trend of the last couple of months.

The Greek stock market opened the new year with another eight-month high on Monday, even if trading was a fraction of its usual size, due to the festive season and the fact that Wall Street was closed.

The positive mood prevailed throughout the day at Athinon Avenue, with banks leading the way up and rising stocks outnumbering falling ones by a ratio of more than five-to-three.

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.

The Greek bourse only held on to a fraction of its early gains on Friday, but that was enough to break its three-week losing streak and ensure this week came to a positive conclusion.

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.

Underperforming its European peers, Athinon Avenue was virtually flat at the end of the week's first session as it failed to catch the wave of gains observed in the rest of the eurozone, partly due to concerns about the course of the pandemic in Greece. Losing stocks narrowly edged out the gainers, but most indexes closed with slight growth.