The Athens Stock Exchange closed on Thursday at the highest levels of the last 14 years, driven by the improved climate in Europe and the new interest rate cut by the ECB.
The Greek market expanded its January gains (+5.5%) and climbed to 1,550 points, which it had not seen since April 2011.
The successive corporate deals, the resilient profitability of listed companies and the expectations for this year’s dividends once again constituted the main factors of the upward movement, which was stabilized after ECB Chief Christine Lagarde’s decision to proceed with further easing of the monetary policy.
More specifically, the General Index recorded an increase of +0.30% at 1,550.72 points, gaining approximately five points compared to Wednesday’s closing (1,546.03 points).
Optima Bank climbed to a new historical high and approached 1 billion euros in terms of valuation, while PPC moved close to 15-year highs. On the other hand, OPAP found itself in negative territory, stopping its path towards 17 euros.
Meanwhile, the banking index, which gained more than +10.8% in January, continued to accumulate strength at 9-year highs, ending the session up +0.19% at 1,425 points.
Eurobank’s share soared +0.33% at 2.438 euros, Alpha’s share remained stable at 1.81 euros, Piraeus’ share ended unchanged at 4.45 euros, while National Bank’s share decreased slightly to -0.05% at 8.386 euros.
