The upward trend in European markets is holding. With the banking sector also turning higher, the General Index of the Greek stock market is trading around the 2,650-point mark.
The discount on S&P 500 futures narrowed to 0.27%. The DAX is up 0.79% at 26,872, while the CAC 40 has gained 0.68% to 8,388 points.
The VIX/CBOE edged up to 18.37, as markets also await a new round of talks on Ukraine.
The EuroStoxx Banks index edged lower to 300 points, possibly as investors took some profits.
Trading on Euronext Athens was somewhat subdued, with turnover of €125 million at 14:30. A total of 19.75 million shares changed hands, 15.62 million of them in bank stocks. The value of transactions through pre-arranged trades was €25.47 million, mainly in shares of the systemic banks and selected large caps.
Investors were cautious until earlier in the session, with neither sellers nor buyers making a dramatic move.
The fact that there was no change to the constituents of the MSCI Greece Standard index is contributing to a strategy of conserving firepower, with some profit-taking. It had been widely expected that there would be no change — no additions or deletions — leaving the MSCI Small Cap as the main focus of interest.
Trading in systemic bank stocks was mixed, while orders in selected FTSE 25 blue chips were comparatively strong.
It was largely expected that the prospect of Action entering the Greek market would trigger selling in Jumbo shares.
With the stock up almost 9.5% over the month, selling was to be expected, and it fell as much as 4.24% as the session progressed. Orders were placed in a range of €28 to €26.88, with trading activity picking up and the stock ranking fourth by turnover. Piraeus (10.19), Eurobank (4.905) and National Bank (17.515) ranked first, second and third, followed by Credia Bank (0.935), Alpha Bank (4.807), PPC (23.32), Cenergy Holdings (22.76), GEK TERNA (41.94) and ElvalHalcor (3.675), among others.
The large-cap stock with the biggest gain, and a significant rise in trading activity, was ElvalHalcor, following confirmation of its inclusion in the MSCI Small Cap. The share of Autohellas, which is being replaced, stood at €10.20, down 1.27% — a development that was more or less expected and priced in by the market.
Inflows continued into AIA (12.40), Viohalco (16.46) and Cenergy Holdings (22.76).
Alter Ego Media (6.50), AVAX (3.43), IDEAL Holdings (5.62) and Intracom Holdings (3.116) were among the FTSE Mid Cap stocks standing out earlier, at 14:45. Overall, 58 stocks were higher and 56 lower.