Investors were trading lower across European markets, and opening orders from their peers on the Greek stock market were similarly negative.
Oil prices were significantly lower than their recent highs, while the yield on US bonds edged down and Wall Street futures remained firmly in positive territory.
Brent stood at $107.021, WTI at 99.383%, the US 10-year yield at 5.0720%, and S&P 500 futures were up 0.62% at 7,707 points.
Frankfurt’s DAX fell 0.71% to 25,421 points, while Paris’s CAC 40 was down 1.15% at 7,865. With the Euro Stoxx Banks index at 286.57, down 1.51%, the picture in Athens was unlikely to be very different.
Before trading began, it was already clear that investors intended to take further partial profits, with most of their orders focused on bank shares.
The first orders came in after a downward gap, with the banking index (DTR) just below 3,000 points. Trading then continued in a narrow range, with sellers consistently in the lead. Within the first half-hour, 1.5 million of the 2.1 million shares traded were bank stocks.
Order flow was relatively subdued in leading blue chips, but sellers remained steady. Turnover stood at €15.4 million, with very little coming from pre-agreed trades, suggesting that these were “outright” sales.
In practice, selling continued across most FTSE 25 stocks, in what appeared to be a continuation of Thursday’s trend after Friday’s pause. The dominant trend remains one of reducing positions, coinciding with the market’s post-rebalancing phase and compounded by the negative mood in international markets.
The total market capitalisation of listed companies stood at €191.2 billion. Regardless of conditions on foreign exchanges, the gap with the €200 billion threshold that has been set is justified by fund managers investing in emerging markets reducing their positions.
As has been noted repeatedly, (potential) investors in developed markets have no reason to rush, particularly during a broader market correction. This is especially true in October, a month that has typically been unfavourable for investors holding long positions. By contrast, it is usually a period when investors take positions at lower price levels, looking for the positive trend in November and December to be confirmed. That remains to be seen.
Sellers outnumbered buyers in all four systemic bank stocks, particularly Alpha Bank (4.245), Eurobank (4.405), Piraeus (9.732) and National Bank of Greece (16.24).
By contrast, buyers outnumbered sellers in leading blue chips, notably Metlen (48.96), Motor Oil (69.25), HelleniQ Energy (19.83) and Jumbo (27), helping to offset the pressure on the index. The divergence between blue chips and banks is notable, although it is too early to say whether it reflects a tactical rotation.
HelleniQ Energy shares also set a new high of €19.82.
EXAE at €10.16, AVAX at €3.325, Intracom Holdings at €2.90, PPA at €43.35 and Trade Estates at €1.962 stood out among FTSE Mid Cap stocks. Overall, 42 shares rose, compared with 54 that fell.
Turnover reached €23.8 million at the end of the first hour of trading.