The Blitzkrieg (German: Blitzkrieg) was a military tactic of surprise and rapid advance developed by Germany during World War II. Blitzkrieg involved forces that had not previously constituted the bulk of the armed forces. It was based on a combination of powerful motorized armored units and air support, with the aim of rapidly breaking through enemy lines and paralyzing the defense before it could organize itself.
The original architect was German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, and the chief implementer of the “Blitzkrieg” was German General Heinz Guderian.
“Blitzkrieg” appears to be underway on the Athens Stock Exchange as well, which continued its climb up the “wall of anxiety,” driven by “heavyweight stocks,” that is, index-weighted stocks, while mid- and small-cap stocks remain on the sidelines—with a few exceptions—that “have interested parties backing them.”
The “million-dollar question” is how far this “one-sided” upward trend can go and whether a very large portion of the market has definitively been left out of the “game” and out of the spotlight, with all that this may entail.
Beyond that, the last trading session of the week was also clearly bullish, with the Athens Stock Exchange’s main indices consistently trading in positive territory, while the close of trading found the General Index at a new 200-month high, with the previous high having been recorded on November 13, 2009 (2,588.71 points) and the banking sector index at a 128-month high, with the next-highest closing level recorded on November 16, 2015 (3,073.8 points).
Trading activity remained at relatively lower levels (the lowest volume in the last four sessions), with today’s holiday on Wall Street (Independence Day), while the noticeable pullback of indices and individual stocks from their intraday highs remains a point of concern today.
According to domestic analysts, “the positive sentiment abroad—even as doubts persist regarding valuations in the artificial intelligence sector— the ongoing decline in oil prices, combined with positive reports on Greek stocks from domestic and foreign investment firms, are driving the market higher. On the other hand, the continued oversubscription of rights offerings and bond issues confirms capital inflows into the Athens Stock Exchange.”
Another positive development is the return of buyers to the heavily weighted banking sector, something this column had warned about, noting that “it is considered only a matter of time before buyers return to bank stocks, as they will rush to price in the satisfactory first-half results that are expected.”
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.
It is noted that “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 the issuance of five-year bonds. The plan is to issue up to 100,000 dematerialized, registered, common bonds, each with a par value of €1,000 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 yield range for the Seanergy bond has been set between 4.9% and 5.2%. Trading of the new bonds will begin on Monday, July 13, 2026.
According to reports, “two shipping companies are in the process of submitting their applications to list on the Athens Stock Exchange.”
Beyond that, and according to what is being said in brokerage offices, the “flurry” of announcements regarding capital increases and bond issuances “is forcing companies that had planned capital injections for later in the year to expedite their plans, as no one knows what the climate will be like internationally and in Greece in the fall.”
Meanwhile, according to the Hellenic Capital Market Commission’s report regarding net short positions exceeding 0.5%:
JP Morgan Asset Management (UK) Ltd maintains a net short position of 0.80012% in MTLN shares; AKO Capital LLP holds a net short position of 1.31857% in MTLN shares; Qube Research & Technologies Limited holds a net short position of 0.74346% in BYLOT shares; Qube Research & Technologies Limited, with a net short position of 0.71317% in ADMIE shares, and Marshall Wace LLP, with a net short position of 0.69377% in MTLN shares.
As of July 2, 2026, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its net short position in QLCO shares to 0.49408%, down from 0.50525%.
Major European markets were trading in positive territory but remained relatively far from their intraday highs, buoyed by Europe’s lower exposure to technology stocks and the latest decline in oil prices.
It should be noted that the DAX, EuroStoxx 50, EuroStoxx 600, and Dow Jones all closed at new all-time highs yesterday.
Meanwhile, “Tesla, Caterpillar, semiconductor manufacturer Applied Materials, and an ETF that tracks microchip manufacturers’ stocks are among the most recent short positions announced by Michael Burry (The Big Short). These positions are part of a ‘bet’ that has been taking shape for months and aims to generate profits should the excessive optimism surrounding artificial intelligence subside,” writes the WSJ.
Yields in the bond market are mixed. Due to the holiday, the yield on the U.S. 2-year Treasury note stands at 4.14%, while the yield on the 10-year note is at 4.48% (the yield on the 30-year note is at 4.99%). The yield on the Greek 10-year bond has climbed to 3.606%.
Staying with government bonds, on Wednesday, July 8, 2026, an auction will be held for 13-week Greek government treasury bills, in book-entry form, totaling 400 million euros, maturing on October 9, 2026.
The General Index remained in positive territory throughout the day, reaching a daily high of 2,543.71 points (+1.53%). At 5:00 p.m., it stood at 2,536.31 (+1.23%) and closed at 2,537.23 points, with daily gains of 1.27%.
Trading volume totaled 259.8 million, of which 25.7 million were pre-arranged trades (CENER, BOCHGR, TITC, AKTR, BYLOT, OPTIMA, ADMIE, PIR, SAR, ARAIG, AIA, FRLK, ELPE, BEL, MOI, KOUES, BIO, ETE, ELPE, OTE, EUROB, ADMIE), with GEKTERNA and ETE accounting for 27% of the total gross trading value.
Of the total trading volume of 259.8 million, 232 million related to trades in FTSE25 stocks.
Furthermore, today’s session was the last of the week, which proved to be bullish, with the General Index posting weekly gains of 3.59% and the banking sector index posting gains of 4.69%. Since the beginning of the year, the General Index has posted gains of 19.64% and the Banking Sector Index has posted gains of 24.79%.