Bank stocks drive second rebound day
Recovery on the Athens Stock Exchange extended for a second straight session Wednesday, this time boosted by the greatly improved global mood.
Banks drove this recovery, as they did turnover, recovering an important part of the ground lost during Monday’s big sell-off.
The general index gained 1.94% to close at 1,394.29 points on turnover of €107.55 million. Blue chips gained 1.81% and mid-caps 2.72%, while the banks sub-index was up 2.96%.
Aegean was the top gaining blue chip, rising 5.32%, while Motor Oil, Autohellas and GEK Terna rose more than 4%. Losses were sustained only by two blue chips: Coca-Cola HBC (1.02%) and OTE Telecom (0.68%).
Banks are boosted by impressive second-quarter financial results and analysts’ glowing reports about their prospects.
In a note, Euroxx Securities provided new target prices for the “big four” banks: Alpha Bank (new target share price at €2.50 from €2.40), Eurobank (€2.70 from €2.50), National (€10.70 from €9.80) and Piraeus (€6 from €5.40). It cited a return to dividends and expanded loan disbursements as the reason.
