A session marked by rotating buying interest, “colored” by corporate actions and accompanied by the highest trading volume of the last six sessions, albeit with significant support from “block trades.”
According to market sources, “the first trading session of the second half of the stock market year could even be described as a positive surprise, as the domestic market managed to overcome the cautious sentiment prevailing in European stock markets, as well as the significant dividend cuts in index-weighted stocks.
Starting with large-cap stocks, as of today, TITC shares (-1.92%) were trading without the €1.10 per share, OTE shares (-3.35%) without the €0.90214 per share (net amount: €0.857033 per share), ELPE shares (-2.44%) without the €0.400393 per share (net amount: €0.3803734 per share), and ALPHA (+0.30%) excluding €0.0655980839 per share (net amount: €0.0623181797 per share).
On the other hand, GEKTERNA (+3.09%) announced “the successful completion of the private placement of 15,513,493 new shares to Qualified, institutional investors, and other eligible investors who participated in the accelerated book-building process, with the preemptive rights of the Company’s existing shareholders excluded. The offering price of the new shares was set at €42.50 per new share. In response to strong demand from high-quality investors, the Company increased the size of the private placement, raising €659,323,452.50, approximately 32% above the €500 million it had initially planned to raise. Total demand at the offering price amounted to approximately €3 billion. The difference between the par value and the offering price of the new shares, totaling €650,480,761.49, will be credited to the Company’s equity account under “Share Premium.”
According to market sources, “the increase in free float resulting from the rights offering paves the way for GEKTERNA’s inclusion in the MSCI Developed Markets Index, a development that will enhance liquidity and attract new capital from international portfolios.”
On the other hand, “Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp.” proceeded with a public offering in Greece, involving a cash payment and the listing of its bonds for trading in the fixed-income securities category of the Regulated Market of Euronext Athens, with a five-year bond issue. The plan is to issue up to 100,000 dematerialized, registered, common bonds, with a par value of €1,000 each and a total amount of up to €100 million. In the event of partial subscription totaling less than €75 million, the offering will be canceled. The public offering begins on Monday, July 6, 2026, and concludes on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.
“The capital increases that have been completed or have already been announced, including the upcoming corporate actions by AKTR and ElvalHalcor in July, now total €7.46 billion. If corporate bond issuances are added, the total amount of funds raised or to be raised through the market reaches 8.36 billion euros, providing a strong financial boost to listed companies. Even if no other such transactions take place by the end of the year, 2026 is already a landmark year for the Athens Stock Exchange.
The market has fully regained its dual role as an “engine” for raising capital and attracting foreign investors. In fact, this role is being fulfilled successfully for everyone: share offerings are oversubscribed, investors are seeing immediate capital gains from their transactions, and market activity continues, until the “chain” of positive returns is eventually broken. Be that as it may, and regardless of short-term fluctuations, the “engine” is well and truly revved up, and the momentum is being bolstered by new “ideas” that keep interest high,” as Beta Sec points out.
On the other hand, according to information from brokerage firms, “moves—capital injections that were planned for later in the year—appear to be accelerating, as no one knows what the climate will be like internationally and in Greece this fall.”
Regarding the “day after” on the Athens Stock Exchange, Ilias Zacharakis shares his views in this column, stating that “’cheap’ and ‘expensive’ on the stock market are two of the most misunderstood concepts.
For many, Tesla has always been expensive. And yet, those who focused on its future prospects rather than current valuation metrics achieved returns that very few stocks have ever offered.
We see the same phenomenon in the Greek market. Many describe Karelia as “cheap” based on its financial metrics and quality, yet its stock performance does not always align with this view.
On the other hand, companies such as AKTR or CREDIA are considered by many to be “expensive,” but this did not prevent the market from valuing them higher when expectations for their future changed.
The same thing happened with GEKTERNA. For a long time, the market valued it much lower. Then, its valuation skyrocketed. Did the company change so dramatically in just a few months? Not necessarily. What changed was the way the market began to value its future projects, cash flows, the value of its holdings, and its growth prospects.
Even more telling is the case of PPC. Just a few years ago, many were still debating its very viability, with its valuation hovering around 400 million euros. Today, together with the value of the spun-off ADMIE, the total valuation exceeds 15 billion euros, while the Company has managed to raise billions of euros from the market through capital increases and bond issuances.
This wasn’t an overnight “miracle.” The strategy changed, financial metrics improved, the business model was transformed, and, most importantly, the way the market valued its future changed.
But there is something even more fundamental that is often overlooked: for a publicly traded company to have real meaning, it must also fulfill its own institutional role. It is not enough to simply produce numbers. It requires sufficient market capitalization, modern corporate governance, visionary leadership, transparency, and genuine respect for its shareholders.
A listed company is not a “private business,” but an organization that raises capital from the market and must operate according to rules and with accountability.
When companies truly grasp this, the market will view them in a different light. It will not evaluate them solely on the basis of their financial figures, but also on the quality of their management, the consistency of their strategy, and the way they respect the investing public. Because, ultimately, every step in the right direction can create additional value.
Conversely, when the prevailing mindset is that “the company is our own business” rather than a public institution with obligations to all shareholders, the market finds it difficult to trust the company and even more difficult to reflect the potential value that could be created.
Many people seek the “correct” price of a stock. The reality, however, is that the only “correct” price, at any given moment, is the one displayed on the ticker. This is the price at which buyers and sellers agree to trade.
Valuation is not a static quantity, nor is it a mathematical certainty. It is the market’s collective assessment of the present and, above all, of the future. That is why it changes every day.
If there were a single “fair” price for every stock, then there would essentially be no stock market. The market would be dead, with prices remaining static and changing only when earnings were reported or a significant development occurred.
But the reality is different. Every day, thousands of investors value the same asset differently, based on their expectations, information, experience, and risk tolerance. It is precisely this difference in valuation that drives trading and breathes life into the market.
High returns do not result simply because someone bought a “cheap” stock. They result when the true value of a company proves to be much greater than what the market had previously priced in. “And sooner or later, the market recognizes this value,” according to Mr. Zacharakis (Chairman and CEO of Fast Finance S.A.).
Beyond that, the start of the new month will intensify discussions at brokerage firms, which will focus on forecasts – estimates of banks’ first-half results, which are expected to be satisfactory and may lead to new reports with upgraded price targets for the sector.
According to the financial calendars of the major banks, and barring any last-minute changes, PIR will announce its first-half results on July 29, followed by ETE, EUROB, and OPTIMA will announce their first-half results on July 30; ALPHA on July 31; BOCHGR on August 4 (which will also announce an interim dividend payment); and CREDIA on August 6.
Major European markets are showing mixed trends and marked caution, with active investors attempting to price in data on the overall inflation trend in the Eurozone, while also monitoring the bond market.
More specifically, across the Eurozone as a whole, the HICP rose at an annual rate of 2.8%, a significant decline from the previous rate of 3.2%, while economists’ consensus forecasts had predicted a smaller decline to 3%.
A shift in the market landscape, with yields rising across the bond market for all issuers. The yield on the U.S. 2-year bond stood at 4.18%, while that of the corresponding 10-year bond was 4.48% (the yield on the 30-year bond was 4.97%). The yield on the Greek 10-year bond was 3.576%.
On the other hand, “the global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market recorded an impressive rise in the first half of 2026, with the total value of deals reaching $2.6 trillion, an increase of approximately 30% compared to the same period last year,” according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
It should be noted that the EuroStoxx 600, Dow Jones, and Russell 2000 indices closed at new all-time highs yesterday.
Returning to the Athens Stock Exchange, the General Index fluctuated between 2,444.86 (-0.61%) and 2,484.48 points (+1%). At 5:00 p.m., it stood at 2,483.97 (+0.98%) and closed at 2,481.33 points, with daily gains of 0.88%.
Trading volume totaled 335.4 million, of which 90.5 million were block trades (BOCHGR, AKTR, QLCO, GEKTERNA, ADMIE, ETE, TRASTOR, DEI, EUROB, ALPHA, PIR, PROF, KOUAL, ELPE, ANDRO, EKTER, PETRO, PLATH), with GEKTERNA, ETE, ALPHA, and PIR accounting for 60% of the total gross trading value.
Of the total turnover of 335.4 million, 312.1 million relate to trades in FTSE 25 stocks.