New liquidations took place today on the Greek stock market, with banks and some blue chips taking center stage. Pressures intensified at the close, resulting in the General Index closing back at the day’s lows, losing critical support points such as 1,430 and 1,440. In addition, the domestic market kept its distance from the cool reaction shown by foreign stock exchanges regarding the Middle East.

Specifically, in Wednesday’s (2/1) session, the GD slid 18.22 points or -1.26% to close at 1,428.81 points, close to the daily low of 1,423.93 points. The high for the day was found at 1,439.43 points. Daily, it was the worst performance since August 5 (“Black Monday”). Turnover was close to 200 million euros, boosted by packages (mainly from the National Bank).

This was the fourth consecutive fall of the Xetra, with cumulative losses “touching” -2.89%. This is the lowest closing since September 20 (1,425.19 points). The stock market’s performance this year is set at +10.49%.

The 1,450 points proved to be a highly important support level and the fact that they were lost at yesterday’s close led to a sharp drop. At the same time, the gains of September, which had amounted to +1.45%, were “wiped out”.

The sellers targeted the shares of banks and energy. Eurobank and Alpha Bank were the negative protagonists from the banking big four, while OTE, Metlen, Motor Oil, OPAP and Aegean stood out negatively among the blue chips, with the latter being “fired” by geopolitical tensions, which traditionally affect aviation.

Stabilizing trends prevailed in the National Bank, which occupied most of the turnover due to the placement completed a few hours ago. The “narrowing” of the range in the placement price left no room for strong movements in the stock. Moreover, liquidity is expected to be released in the domestic market after the completion of the process.

A large volume of packages was also traded in the ETE today. A few hours before the end of the private placement (16:00 CET), three pre-agreed packages with a total value of more than EUR 15 million changed hands. This was followed by another mega package at 15:55 which passed for EUR 7.636. It involved EUR 2.669 million for a total value of EUR 20.383 million. At 17:00 there was another pre-agreed transaction of EUR 19.681 million.

MENA, ETE, and Cenergy in focus

The escalating tensions in the Middle East are also affecting Athens. Investors are avoiding moves that indicate risk-taking, preferring safer assets such as gold and the US dollar. At the same time, fears that oil will “touch” prices above $100 are coming back to the fore, creating a new “headache” for inflation, even though it is gradually slowing down in major economies.

The placement for the sale of 10% of ETE shares remained in the spotlight. Just before the start of today’s trading session, the new limit was announced. The HFSF narrowed the price range, giving pricing guidance closer to EUR 7.65, i.e. yesterday’s close, taking into account the increased volatility that has arisen in the geopolitical arena.

More specifically, it approved a narrower price range for the international offer, i.e. from EUR 7.4 to EUR 7.65 per offered share (from EUR 7.3 to EUR 7.95 previously). In a later announcement, the HFSF announced that due to the increased demand, it is setting the minimum threshold at EUR 7,55. The offer book closed at 16:00 CET. The issue was heavily oversubscribed. On Tuesday it exceeded 11 times, with strong demand from foreign as well as Greek investors (more than 4 times the coverage of the domestic book).

Cenergy Holdings was also the focus of the investment community, due to the general meeting for a share capital increase (AGM) of up to EUR 200 million. The aim is to strengthen the free float of the share, as well as to improve the financing conditions for the company’s expansion in the US.

Controlled decline in international stock exchanges

Wall Street is posting small losses today, with none of the three major indices falling more than -0.2%. It should be noted that the turbulent situation in the Middle East has rattled stock markets globally. However, new US private sector hiring data is tempering the downward trends.

A change of scenery can be seen in European stock markets as sellers now hold the reins despite the positive start. The Stoxx 600 is trading at -0.1% and indices in Frankfurt (DAX), Madrid (IBEX 35), and Milan (FTSE MIB) are lower by -0.4% to -0.6%. The British FTSE 100 reacts, gaining +0.3%.

After Wall Street and Europe, it’s the turn of Asian markets to liquidate in the wake of Israel’s clashes with Iran and Lebanon. A sharp drop for Japan’s Nikkei of -2.2%. In contrast, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong returned to trading after yesterday’s pause, “climbing” more than +6% with momentum gained from Beijing’s monetary stimulus measures. Stock exchanges in China, Taiwan, and India remained closed.

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