European markets opened under encouraging conditions for long positions, with investors in the Greek market “eyeing” the 2,500-point mark.
S&P 500 futures are trading at a premium of 0.23%, at 7,428 points; the DAX is at 24,825 (0.44%), the DAX at 8,390 (0.10%), the CAC 40 at 24,825, and the EuroStoxx Banks at 292.29 (0.32%), buyers in Athens are returning with cautious orders for stocks in the sector.
The pre-market session indicated that most participants intended to trade slightly higher, with orders placed in both banking stocks and several blue chips. As a result, the DTR fluctuated within the range of 2,800–2,823 points, while the FTSE25 ranged between 6,267 and 6,314 points, as buying gradually picked up over the course of the half-hour in Piraeus Bank (9.17), Eurobank (4.191), as well as Cenergy Holdings (24.48), AKTOR (13.38), Coca-Cola HBC (55.60), and others.
Investors’ strategy was cautious, yet focused on most of the FTSE25. According to brokers, this indicates a parallel effort to rebalance positions—near 17-year highs—to lock in some capital gains and prepare for July and the start of the next market cycle (third quarter/second half).
What is interesting is that this entire process is unfolding in a month when significant capital was raised from the market (through rights offerings and bond issuances), with buyers holding the upper hand. Under different circumstances, such a cycle would likely signal sell-offs or a price correction. On the contrary, for market indicators, the trend (in rights offerings and bond issues) continued to rise, driven by demand from “strong hands” that was not sufficiently met.
AKTOR’s stock is trading at 13.42 (up 3.55%)—at new highs—as a result of developments involving the four initiatives to expand Atlantic SEE in Southeast Europe, as noted by George Fintikakis. With a weekly gain of nearly 18%, the stock is one of the trendsetters in this market phase.
Coca-Cola HBC shares are trading at 55.40 (0.73%)—also at new highs—with a “tail” of buy orders from London.
AEGEAN is at 12.90 (2.05%), the ATHEX at 10.67 (1.14%) for AIA; both stocks are seeing buyers, in line with what we noted (pre-market) that the reopening of the Straits and the gradual recovery of Middle Eastern markets are benefiting the tourism sector.
PPC shares were at 23.18 (0.79%), and ADMIE shares at 4.66 (2.16%), also with buyers (for the main reason that has been mentioned many times).
The ratio of shares with positive to negative performance stands at 64 to 28, with... a sudden 19.66% gain to 2.10 euros for Iatriko Athinon—ahead of its general meeting—and at 6.08 (2.53%) for Alter Ego Media—following the initiation of coverage—with a target price of 7.1 euros from Edison.
Trading volume stood at 29.5 million euros (11:20 a.m.), with 8.01 million euros coming from pre-arranged orders. At 11:05 a.m., an order was placed for 1.73 million shares of Alpha Bank at 4.021 euros.