“Brake” on the six-day bullish streak was put on hold today by the Athens Stock Exchange, which aligned with the negative sentiment in the broader international markets. Sellers intensified their moves between 12:00 and 15:00, but then the pressure was de-escalated, resulting in the General Index remaining above the psychological threshold of 1,850 points.

Specifically, in Thursday’s (12/6) session, the GC fell by 12.26 points or -0.66% to close at 1,854.98 points, with the daily low at 1,845.89 points and the daily high at 1,860.02 points. The index now stands at +1.3% for June, while it is “running” at a rate of +26.22% this year. At the same time, it is 1.29% away from the year high of 1,879.23 points.

The banking sector led today’s losses with Piraeus, ETE, and Eurobank losing more than -1%. OPAP, Cenergy, and OTE – among others – also recorded strong declines. On the flip side, PPC closed in bullish territory and approached EUR 14, opening the gates to a year high of EUR 14.4, with the next peaks being in November 2009. A positive catalyst for the stock is the group’s entry into the telecommunications market. At the same time, PPA recorded a new “jump” and extended its 17-year record (January 2008), despite the denial of reports of a public offer.

It will take something “big” to reverse the medium-term uptrend

A positive development for the General Index is, according to analyst Petros Steriotis, “the “digging in” of the recent 15-year highs, with any overheating being “dealt with” for now with a sideways accumulation move. We do not yet see any signs of alarming “distribution” of securities, with the moves having rather the character of portfolio repositioning, in the style of “watching and doing” and given summer seasonality.”

“The ongoing ‘lull’ presents an opportunity for laggard securities to improve their market valuation, especially in cases of supportive fundamentals. The January-March quarterly results were encouraging, which we have no reason to believe will not continue in the current quarter,” the certified portfolio manager says – among other things – in his weekly commentary on the HA, and adds:

Closing with the General Index, the preceding 7-month uptrend streak has created a series of supports where buying interest is likely to be identified in the event of a measured relapse in sentiment. The “bears” look like an endangered species, and it will take something “big” to reverse the medium-term uptrend.”

At yesterday’s general meeting of GEK TERNA, shareholders approved all agenda items, including the distribution of a dividend of EUR 0.4 per share for the 2024 financial year, with the cut-off of the right to receive the dividend set for 25 June and the start of payment set for 2 July.
Shareholders of Sarantis approved the cancellation of 3.15 million treasury shares (4.7% of the share capital), authorizing the Board of Directors to proceed with the process. After the cancellation, Sarantis’ share capital will consist of 63.7 million shares. In other corporate news, Eurobank completed the squeeze-out for the remaining 2% of Hellenic Bank, securing a 100% stake in the bank. The price corresponded to the previous public offer price of EUR 4.843 per share.

Without the right to receive the net dividend of EUR 1.8 per share, Mermeren Kombinat was traded. Meanwhile, the share capital increase process at Ideal Holdings continues for the second day and is expected to be completed tomorrow (13/6) at 15:00. The group aims to raise up to EUR 48.8 million through the issue of up to 8 million new shares. The price range has been set at EUR 5.8 to EUR 6.1 per share.

Benefits for sellers in international markets

Better-than-expected U.S. inflation data and the U.S.-China trade framework agreement were not enough to overcome investor concerns about the exact content of the deal. The concerns were confirmed after Trump decided to send letters to trading partners to set unilateral tariff rates. Against this backdrop, Wall Street remains on a downward trajectory today after yesterday’s mild decline, with the Dow Jones down -0.2%. However, new data on wholesale inflation and jobless claims are described as encouraging by international analysts as they highlight the resilience of the US economy.

Most European stock markets post losses as fresh trade tensions weigh on sentiment. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index is down -0.2% to trade at 550 points, absorbing much of the initial “shocks”. Germany’s DAX slides -0.6%, Italy’s FTSE MIB loses -0.4%, and France’s CAC 40 retreats -0.1%. Asian markets were mixed, with Chinese indices recording mild changes. The Nikkei in Japan fell -0.7%, while the Kospi in South Korea gained by +0.5%.