European markets opened higher, with the Greek stock market following suit.
S&P 500 futures in New York are trading at a slight premium, at 25,812 (0.13%) the DAX in Frankfurt at 8,542 (0.40%), the CAC 40, and the EuroStoxx Banks index up 0.33% at 302.4 points; on Euronext Athens, long positions opened with a slight advantage.
Of the 2,884 initial orders for the DTR, sellers and buyers were at nearly identical prices, in the range of 2,855–2,844 points, with sellers holding a slight edge in National Bank shares and buyers in Eurobank, Alpha Bank, and Piraeus Bank.
Almost immediately at the start of the session, pre-arranged orders were executed for shares of ADMIE, National Bank, and Motor Oil, while a significant influx of orders was also seen for shares of AKTOR, AVAX, EYDAP, and others, adding further interest to the bets being placed on index stocks, specifically mid-caps.
According to a broker, it makes sense to attempt to spread liquidity across a broader segment of the market and to seek to expand the “areas” of leverage, in line with the logic we noted in our pre-market commentary.
With the valuations of certain large-caps at reasonable levels, it is natural to attempt to “open up” the market. It remains to be seen, of course, whether others will follow suit, whether capital inflows will increase, and what that might mean for the future. Perhaps July will see a “second-gear” surge? Time will tell, though the initial signs so far are encouraging.
The DTR is around 2,864 points, the FTSE25 around 6,470, with buyers predominantly focusing on the index’s blue chips.
PPC shares are at 23.98 (up 1.14%), and with a market capitalization of 14.325 billion, the company now surpasses National Bank of Greece by 24 million, climbing to third place on the podium. We reported on this earlier in the EKH. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage with a target price of 27 euros (December 2027).
Coca-Cola HBC shares are at 60.50 (1.68%), with a steady stream of buy orders from London; Alexandra Gitsis has been hinting since February 11 at what is fueling the Group’s growth.
Strong buying interest was seen in Metlen (42.76), ElvalHalcor (4.98), Allwyn (14.385), AKTOR (14.80), Motor Oil (41.58), Jumbo (23.48), Lamda Development (6.93), and others. Special mention goes to EYDAP shares, with new inflows at 11.74 euros. Stelios Bouras had mentioned early on that the new landscape was “in flux”; we discussed what is happening with the water utilities—primarily EYDAP but also EYATH—on Friday.
AVE (0.126), Qual (1.262), EYATH (4.63), EKTER (5.34) are just a few examples of the 56 stocks trading in positive territory as of 11:10 a.m., compared to 37 trading in the red.
Turnover stood at 24.2 million euros, with 1.48 million shares traded on the banking sector out of a total of 2.68 million shares.