Wall Street’s main indices ended Friday’s session sharply lower as technology stocks linked to artificial intelligence came under fresh, heavy pressure.
Analysts said: “It was a session that highlighted growing concerns about valuations of artificial intelligence companies, at a time when investment in the sector requires ever larger amounts of capital.”
Third-quarter results will remain in focus, with reporting gathering pace in the week that began.
According to Beta Sec., “the US third-quarter earnings calendar has 3M, GE Aerospace, General Motors and Philip Morris reporting before the market opens on Tuesday, 20 October, followed by Intuitive Surgical and Netflix after the close. On Wednesday, 21 October, Abbott Laboratories, AT&T, CME Group and Thermo Fisher Scientific report before the open, while IBM, Lam Research and Tesla report after the close. On Thursday, 22 October, Blackstone and Procter & Gamble report before trading begins, followed by Ford and Newmont after the close. Finally, American Express and SLB report before the market opens on Friday, 23 October.”
The economic calendar shows that the next ECB meetings and announcements are scheduled for 29 October and 17 December 2026.
The corresponding Fed meetings are scheduled for 28 October and 9 December 2026.
The next scheduled monetary policy meetings of the BoJ are on 30 October and 18 December, and those of the BoE on 5 November and 17 December.
The Fed has now entered its blackout period ahead of its October meeting.
Oil is pulling back, but Brent remains above $108 a barrel. The picture is clearly calmer in Asia, but not in Europe, owing to events in France and elsewhere.
The first session of the week on the Athens Stock Exchange was decisively lower. The market remains correlated with European markets, with the ASE’s main indices firmly in negative territory. Those following developments on the domestic market witnessed another back-and-forth “rotation” in Greece’s developed market between bank stocks and Coca-Cola HBC.
More specifically, in last Thursday’s session, Coca-Cola HBC was the only large-cap stock to remain in positive territory throughout, providing significant support to the ASE’s main indices as heavyweight bank stocks came under pressure for a second consecutive session.
The picture changed on Friday, with buyers returning to the banking sector, while Coca-Cola HBC never moved into positive territory.
The picture reversed sharply again today: Coca-Cola HBC (+1.15%) never entered negative territory, while controlled selling pressure returned to the heavyweight bank stocks. All indications are that the “rotation” will continue.
Other notable features of today’s session included a clear drop in turnover (the lowest in the past 40 sessions; the next-lowest was €175.9 million on 24/8), a rebound in indices and some heavyweight stocks from their intraday lows, highly selective buying in large caps, and continued weakness among mid- and small-cap stocks.
At the day’s lows, falling stocks outnumbered rising ones by more than two to one, though the ratio later improved.
For now, the domestic market continues to follow the direction of international stock markets, clearly underperforming European markets during down sessions. At the same time, the limited flow of corporate news offers too few catalysts to support an independent and sustained rally, leaving investors cautious until stronger signals emerge from nine-month results and listed companies’ outlooks.
The dearth of news is expected to continue in the week ahead, leaving international sentiment as the main driver of the trend and favouring selective investment over a broad-based increase in risk-taking.
According to Beta Sec., “the strategy of trading sideways on low volume, which may also reflect a temporary truce among sellers, paid off last week: ground was gained and the downward gap (2,605–2,615) was successfully filled. A break above resistance on higher trading volume would open the way to a challenge of new highs for the year. Conversely, a failed breakout and a return below 2,600 points would increase the likelihood of a fresh decline towards the recent low of 2,541 points. The fragile technical balance makes this a critical week in determining whether the recent rebound can develop into a sustained uptrend.”
Beyond that, there is no doubt that the Athens Stock Exchange will remain a bank-led market, with few “reserves” among non-bank FTSE 25 stocks.
In that context, the nine-month results expected from the heavyweight banking sector will undoubtedly play a leading role in the ASE’s short-term direction.
It is worth recalling that nine-month results are due in the following order: ΕΥΡΩΒ on 29/10/2026, ΠΕΙΡ on 30/10/2026, ΑΛΦΑ on 30/10/2026, ΕΤΕ on 5/11/2026, BOCHGR on 5/11/2026, OPTIMA on 11/11/2026 and CREDIA on 12/11/2026.”
Meanwhile, according to an announcement that confirms what this column had reported, “GEK TERNA has mandated BNP Paribas S.A., J.P. Morgan S.E. and Mediobanca – Banca di Credito Finanziario S.p.A. as Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners, together with AXIA, Deutsche Bank, Eurobank A.E., Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, National Bank of Greece, Piraeus Bank A.E. and Optima bank A.E. as Joint Bookrunners, to arrange a series of meetings with specialist investors on its behalf, beginning on Monday, 19 October 2026, in connection with a potential offering under Regulation S of senior unsecured fixed-rate notes with a nominal value of €500 million and a seven-year maturity, under the company’s EMTN Programme. The offering is expected to follow, subject to market conditions. The notes are expected to receive ratings of “BBB-” from S&P Global Ratings and “Baa3” from Moody’s Ratings. The company will use the net proceeds from the notes for general corporate purposes. The notes will be offered outside the United States in accordance with Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended.”
Capital Maritime Finance is expected to make its debut on the ASE tomorrow.
According to reports, two more shipping companies could list on the Athens Stock Exchange in the coming months.
METKA’s public offering, which would mark its return to the ASE, is also imminent.
The “Euronext Athens Small Cap Conference 2026” will take place on 2 November 2026 at the Divani Caravel Hotel. According to the invitation from Euronext Athens, participating companies are Alpha Trust Andromeda, AS Company, Biocarpet, Daios, Elton, EIS, Lanakam, Quality & Reliability, Revoil, Softweb, Trek Development, Unibios, Verallis and Y/KNOT Invest.
On 30 November and 1 December, the event moves to London for the Morgan Stanley & Euronext Athens Greek Investment Conference 2026.
The next scheduled reviews of Greece’s credit rating are: 23 October 2026: Standard & Poor’s; 6 November 2026: Fitch Ratings (concluding the annual cycle).
Major European markets were in the red, with notable losses.
Yields in the government bond market were moving higher.
The yield on the US two-year Treasury climbed to 4.74%, while the 10-year yield reached 5.10%. The 30-year yield stood at 5.44%. The Greek 10-year yield was 4.376%, compared with 4.90% for the equivalent French bond.
The General Index remained in negative territory throughout the session, falling as low as 2,589.65 points (-0.91%). At 17:00 it stood at 2,601.38 (-0.46%) and closed at 2,603.34 points, down 0.39% on the day.
Turnover was €178.8 million, of which €28.8 million came from pre-agreed transactions (CREDIA, CENER, OPTIMA, MTLN, ΕΥΡΩΒ, ΑΛΦΑ, ΚΡΙ, ΓΕΚΤΕΡΝΑ, ΕΛΠΕ, ΔΕΗ, ΟΤΕ, ΠΕΙΡ). ΕΥΡΩΒ and ΠΕΙΡ accounted for 27% of total gross trading value.
Of total turnover of €178.8 million, €164.3 million came from trading in FTSE 25 stocks.