The war fatigue apparently settling among the states involved in the Middle East conflict is like music to the ears of investors, with the main sentiment across most eurozone markets being that of relief. Before this gets reflected on bourses with a major jump in prices, traders at Athinon Avenue pocketed some of their recent gains on Thursday, focusing on banks, with the main indexes closing near their day lows. Even so, mid-caps remained in positive territory, so rising stocks outnumbered decliners in the end.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,274.98 points, shedding 0.63% from Wednesday’s 2,289.44 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.71%, ending at 5,787.55 points, while mid-caps expanded 0.47%.
The banks index dropped 2.06%, as Eurobank gave up 2.96%, National eased 2.93%, Piraeus conceded 1.55% and Alpha parted with 1.43%.
In total 66 stocks reported gains, 39 sustained losses and 17 remained unchanged.
Turnover amounted to €328.5 million, up from Wednesday’s €286.9 million.
In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.20% to close at 284.64 points.