Greek Banks Underperform
Speculation in the banking sector is the main cause of nervousness on Thursday, as the General Index is moving downwards, with losses of up to 0.92%.
Banks clearly underperform, posting losses of up to 2.73%. OPAP’s performance stands out across FTSE20, while PPC and Coca Cola Hellenic follow. Titan, Viohalco and Hellenic Petroleum are also in green.
Pegasus Securities expects a repeat of yesterday’s very volatile session on Thursday, “as hearsay related to a possible domestic banking sector consolidation continues to prevail, retaining investors’ expectations at very high levels”.
Pegasus remains cautious, however, “considering that it would be wiser not to increase our position at current levels, but to remain with a balanced portfolio (cash/equities: 50/50) in order to be best positioned for all possible events”.
Kyprou Securities expects the domestic market to continue outperforming major European indexes “as long as market participants continue expecting any consolidation activity or a potential international co-operation involving the local banking sector”.
“However, major fiscal issues remain unresolved in Greece and important decisions on EU level made in March would affect the ASE’s mid-term course”, according to Kyprou’s morning report.
Across the board, the General Index is 1625.57 units, down 0.25%. Turnover stands at EUR40mn, while a total amount of 35 shares rise, 60 decline and 31 remain unchanged.
Banks are down 1.27%, at 1463.59 units. Bank of Cyprus and National Bank fall by 2.18% and 2.03% respectively, while Eurobank and Marfin Popular Bank decline by 1.22% and 0.93%. Alpha Bank posts small gains of 0.2%
(capital.gr)