Mixed signals on Wall Street Thursday night, but a sell-off early Friday morning in Asian markets. New alarm in the Strait of Hormuz following an attack on the Ever Lovely, with an almost immediate impact on pre-market trading.
Brent crude is at $74.77, and the CBOE VIX is at 18.89 points, with the incident involving the container ship, combined with concerns about the tech sector, acting as “triggers” for traders.
While this setback confirms just how fragile the truce is and that the “60-day” period will be turbulent, while the sell-off in the stocks of AI giants and tech conglomerates indicates that the problem runs deep, and traders and investors should be prepared for further “episodes.”
This is especially true for the former—those with a shorter-term focus—as intraday trading has become more volatile and carries greater risk in short-term moves, whether on the long or short side.
This marks the second consecutive session with a positive close for European investors; however, it remains to be seen today how short-term traders will act, especially given that it is the end of the week. In addition, today’s session—the second of two—marks the close of June (as well as the second quarter and first half of the year), with DAX futures trading at a discount, following the corresponding trend in New York futures contracts.
S&P 500 futures are down 0.80% at 7,317.75 points, and what matters most to investors in Athens is the trend in the EuroStoxx Banks index.
Profit-taking continued on Euronext Athens, with Thanasis Stavropoulos noting the victims of partial profit-taking, as the banking sector faced a wave of sell-offs and specific blue-chip stocks were targeted by persistent sellers.
The index closed at 2,748.78, with a daily low of 2,730.48 points, and 25.2 million shares traded out of a total of 34.8 million shares traded in the banking sector. Turnover stood at 278 million euros, with 140 million coming from the four systemic banks.
As we approach the end of June and the close of the half-year books, it remains to be seen whether the increased sales—primarily—in bank stocks are due to position rebalancing or profit-taking at 11-year highs for the DTR. The answer to this question is significant, as in the first scenario, long positions are looking for higher prices and a “hot” buying month in July, while in the second, short positions are betting on lower prices.
This comes at a time when the market is in the midst of continuous capital raises, bond market issuances, etc., with all that this may imply for liquidity, which is generally taken for granted.
It is possible that “new money”—which has yielded positive returns so far—has flowed into PPC’s capital increase, especially in this case; however, additional capital does not appear to be flowing into the broader market. On the contrary, the rotation currently underway is evident, as best illustrated by the case of Viohalco Group shares.
Stelios Bouras explains how the AKTOR Group plans to raise one billion for three billion in investments. Overall, the amount is substantial, but the contribution from the two main shareholders is expected to cover 300 million euros. The share price stands at 13.36 euros, driven by market leaders—primarily in the short term—with a sharp rise in today’s first trading session following the announcement.
Today is the last day of subscription for Attica Department Stores, with HAMailonta reporting that the offering was already oversubscribed by a factor of two as of Thursday’s trading session. The stock is trading at 6.56 euros.
The FTSE 25 is trading at 6,216.60 in a correction, with a session low of 6,198.43 points, offset by gains in Coca-Cola HBC (35.60), Motor Oil (39.40), OTE (19.42), as well as AEGEAN (12.86), AIA (10.57), HelleniQ Energy (10.66), and a steady PPC (23.02).
Technically, we’re waiting to see whether the short-term (intraday) support levels for the DTR (2,730.48) and the FTSE 25 (6,198.43) are confirmed (or not) in the first 15 minutes, and we’ll see.