Major European markets are trading in positive territory, with modest gains, as active investors focus on oil prices and yields in the government bond market. A significant number of traders have opted for a wait-and-see stance, awaiting US consumer price index (CPI) data, due to be published at 15:30 Greek time and expected to offer some clues about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook.
The Athens bourse is seeing a particularly volatile session. The General Index opened higher, climbing marginally above 2,620 points, but its initial gains gradually eroded and it moved into negative territory, testing levels below 2,595 points before returning to positive ground.
More specifically, just short of the first hour of trading, the ATHEX General Index had moved between 2,620.51 (+0.84%) and 2,594.03 points (-0.18%), while turnover was approaching 34 million, of which 6.4 million related to pre-agreed trades (ΜΠΕΛΑ).
Among the heavyweight bank shares, all are trading around the previous close, with little change. Of the non-bank blue chips, AKTR shares have faced heavy selling from the start of trading (-3.09%).
Among stocks in positive territory, the biggest gains so far are in ΑΡΑΙΓ (+1.19%), ΒΙΟ (+1.85%), ΕΛΠΕ (+1.05%), ΕΥΔΑΠ (+1.36%) and ΛΑΜΔΑ (+1.85%).
There is little to note on the upside among mid- and small-cap stocks, while the first technical test for the General Index remains a close above 2,600 points.