Controlled decline in the stock market securing the rally

A rather expected profit taking session was today in the Athens market, with investors securing part of yesterday’s rally profits and the General Index closing at a distance from the low of the day, receiving support from OTE.

In particular, the DG completed at 862.09 points with a drop of 1.14% and a high turnover for another meeting, at 112 million euros, of which about 15 million in packages. The FTSE 25 of high capitalization fell by 1.26% and closed at 2,076 points, as well as the protagonist of the day, the banking, which after jumping over 10% today recorded losses of 3.41%, completing at 603.96 points.

After the global rally yesterday in the wake of the signs of convergence between Russia and Ukraine, in the absence of any development or other catalyst, the DG started trading at an acquired speed reaching 878.28 points (+ 0.72%) but quickly moved to a negative sign, declining up to 855.32 (-1.91%) points, from where it showed reflexes to finally close above 860, without having changed anything in the general market setup.

The majority of major European indices moved at a similar pace, with the German DAX at -1.15%, the French CAC 40 at -0.5% and the pan-European Stoxx50 at -1%, at the time the ATHEX closed.

The image on the Greek board was burdened by the performance of the banking index, which was reasonable to gather the most sales given the jump + 10% recorded yesterday, while on the contrary significant support in transactions was given by the OTE title which… ran to confirm the upgrade of its target price by Eurobank Equities.

On the other hand, international concerns showed the new jump of more than 8% of oil prices that returned above $ 100 a barrel, amid the warning of the International Energy Agency (IEA) that markets may lose 3 million barrels per day of Russian crude since April.

Finally, there is the aggressive stance taken yesterday by the Fed in its interest rate policy, which increased by 25 basis points as it was almost taken for granted, but signaled a corresponding increase in each of the next six sessions of this year, which means that will reach 1.9% by the end of the year.

The technical image

The general index comfortably overcame the resistance of 857 points yesterday, which became close support and worked immediately, as it was the point from which markets came out every time the pressures intensified.

Otherwise, today’s meeting did not change anything substantially, with the level of 880-890 being the next target for the DG, in which it completes its short-term upward reaction from 788 points.

In any case, we remain in a downward trend, which is reversed by staying above 900 points, so we need to pay close attention to the possible bear market rally, although in the short term much will be judged by the developments in the Ukrainian crisis.

The image on the dashboard

As mentioned above, OTE stole the show with a mini rally of 3.83% and a turnover of over 21 million, Sarantis added 2.22% and Titanas 1.76%, while with a positive sign on March 25, Jumbo also closed with +0 , 59%, ELPE with + 0.58% and PPA with + 0.48%.

In banks, Eurobank reduced losses to -0.84%, Piraeus closed at -2.07%, the EIB lost 4.76% and Alpha Bank 5.73%.

PPC remained stable, defensive movement from Lambda (-0.94%), OPAP (-1.03%), Quest (-1.12%), IPTO (-1.3%) and EYDAP (-1, 43%), while Biochalco (-4.82%) and ELVALHALCOR (-4.88%) were the titles that received the most pressure other than banking.

In the medium capitalization, Cenergy closed with strong losses of 7.36%, Plastics of Thrace moved to -4.72%, Intracat at -3.65% and Fourlis at -3.05%, while Autohellas finished with an increase of 1 , 25%.

Of the total shares, 33 closed up, 71 down and 50 unchanged.

M. Chachladakis