The Greek stock market trimmed its losses in the first three sessions of February today, with buyers comfortably dominating and leading the General Index to levels above 1,540 points. The focus was on the “sealing” of Piraeus-Ethnikis Insurance, as the former is in exclusive talks with the investment fund CVC for the acquisition of 70% of the latter.

As for Thursday’s (6/2) session, the General Index gained 27.14 points or +1.79% and closed at 1,544.49 points, which was the high of the day. The low for the day was found at 1,522.51 points. Today’s rise was the strongest in “two months” (+2.21% – December 2) and paved the way for a return to the recent multi-year highs of 1,550 points. The intra-February decline has narrowed to -0.31%, while the GD is up +5.09% this year.

Apart from Piraeus Bank, which recorded a +3% “jump” in the wake of the pending deal, there were two stocks that achieved significant milestones. Coca-Cola and PPC. The former “climbed” above 35 euros and reached a new all-time high. The second was above 13.3 euros for the first time in 15 years, namely since August 2010.

Also noteworthy was the rise recorded by Titan (approaching the peaks of 45 euros), Alpha Bank, OPAP, Viohalco, Lamda Development, EYDAP and GEK TERNA. On the flip side, Athens International Airport (AIA) corrected after hitting an 11-month high yesterday. Trading was at a high level for the National Bank, due to the 10.14 million euro packages that were traded through the Exchange.

Consistent good sentiment in the domestic market
As for Athens Avenue, “new entries on the board, rumored business deals, and strong corporate fundamentals are maintaining the good investment climate and increasing the trading interest of “smaller” codes. We expect that more acquisitions and expansions of highly liquid companies in domestic dynamic sectors, which are still valued at a discount, will follow, but this does not imply that the discount will close immediately or only due to foreign overreaction to the decline”, stresses Mr. Petros Steriotis, member of the International Federation of Technical Analysts, in his weekly commentary on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Athens today resonated with the bullish trends observed in the markets overall, especially in European markets. As Eurobank Equities analysts point out, stock markets are benefiting from potential trader repositioning flows after the recent downward streak in the wake of the US tariffs.

The investment community remains vigilant as we had developments before the start of today’s session regarding the sale of National Insurance by CVC. Piraeus is in exclusive discussions with the investment fund to acquire a 70% stake in Ethniki Asfalistik for EUR 469 million. As noted in the announcement, the bank will pursue the Danish Compromise process to commit less regulatory capital.

At the same time, in response to a request from the Securities and Exchange Commission, GEK TERNA and Motor Oil have jointly confirmed that they are continuously exploring opportunities to cooperate in the production and supply of electricity, suggesting that recent reports of negotiations related to the merger of Heron and NRG are accurate.

Rally in euro markets, Wall Street slow
We had a bearish comeback on Wall Street yesterday, with investors overlooking concerns about protectionist US trade policy and focusing on encouraging new developments in the field of artificial intelligence. Meta reached new all-time highs on the back of satisfaction with its AI strategy. The key NYSE indices are moving on mixed signals today, with traders slowing down.

European bourses are up strongly, with the Stoxx 600 trading +1.1% and 544 points, heading for a new all-time high. The major indices of the Old Continent are moving between +1.4% and +1.5%, while the German DAX is “flirting” with a new record. Investors are focusing on today’s Bank of England interest rate verdict, which cut interest rates to 4.5%, with corporate results remaining in the spotlight. Asian markets were also positive, with several indices gaining at least +1% in several cases.