The stock week was finally closed with a small fall, with the General Index losing 1.08% to 2.449.29 units but not getting too far away from the 2,500 units that he managed to break up upwards on Monday, for the first time since November 2009.
Thus, despite its small retreat, it lies about 15% above the beginning of the year and 7% above the point it was just before the beginning of the Middle East war. Speaking of war, it is obvious that most stock exchanges have left him behind, despite the fact that his consequences are still quite noticeable in many areas.
The ECB's increase in reference rates, rising inflation and clearly rising fuel prices are some of them. But as we said a moment ago, investors emphasize other things.
In the case of Euronext Athens, they look more closely at the good prospects and strong performance of many companies, many important business developments and the increasingly positive attitude of stock exchange analysts for the majority of the shares of large companies. And, of course, very intense activity in the area of financing listed companies in the form of capital increases.
This activity has brought the Greek stock market to the heart of international interest from April until now and seems to hold it for even longer. The very successful capital increases of Credia Bank, PPC and IPTO, with the demand to be multiple of the offer, have given another tone to the market and have contributed to a clear improvement in the climate at Euronext Athens.
Apart from domestic investors, capital increases, as well as recent positions on the part of key shareholders, have also been covered by many important international institutional and private investors, in which the strong presence of international investment banks has certainly played an important role.
Based on the news of the last few days, it is certain that this great interest will continue until at least the middle of July, since by then the procedures for new capital increases, ELVALHALKOR and AKTOR Group have begun.
In parallel with the intense activity in the field of corporate finance (great is mobility in the bond sector), new reports from domestic and international stock analysts have not stopped. In the majority of them they are purely positive for the prospects of the companies they are looking at, with the banking industry being the subject of most exhibitions and other sectors being very, very positively involved in the analytical community, such as the industrial, energy and construction.
As we also go through the distribution period of dividends from their admitted shareholders, we have another positive factor that supports the rise in the market. Of course, we must not forget that the more general positive news for Greece, especially in areas such as energy, keeps the investment interest in our stock market high.
In view of these factors it is reasonable to remain optimistic about the further progress of our stock market. But we are not alone and we know very well that international developments can always influence the course of Greek shares.
At this stage it is a fact that all international stock indices are very close to their historical highs, the concerns brought about by the war are gradually falling, huge investments in various sectors and in particular in Artificial Intelligence continue while activity in the field of acquisitions, mergers and new imports of companies remains at very high levels.
Doesn't mean we're not afraid of anything. The very sharp stock fluctuations in recent days are very reasonable to concern us and make us somewhat cautious. When we see daily companies with a stock value above the trillion dollars rise or fall of 10% or more, it is good to be alert, especially as the very high volatility is combined with the use of very leveraged products, especially in the field of ETFs. We must not forget that in too many cases, especially in the wider field of Artificial Intelligence, the profits in recent months are too large and the valuations admittedly very optimistic.
We are talking about all this to show that at any time an intense international financial correction could occur which will definitely affect the Greek stock market. This possibility has begun to seem somewhat increased lately, as the main pillar of the rise of the American S&P 500 and Nasdaq indicators, namely the famous Magnificent Seven shares of technological colossae, shows strong weakness and with the slightest there are very sharp falls.
The week after it ended we had two such examples with the significant decline in Apple and Alphabet shares. To avoid misunderstandings, we do not argue that we are facing a major international stock market crisis. What we're saying is there's no way we can go through a period. «rest» in large stock markets that have made very significant profits over the last few months, which we are talking about will be perfectly normal as no market can only rise.
It is very difficult to say whether an international financial corrective move will eventually occur, but it is true that there are signs referring to this. In such a case, the Athens Stock Exchange, for obvious reasons, will have difficulty in continuing its upward course. But if these signs turn out to be false alarms and international markets avoid badspots, it will not be long before we see the General Index convincingly surpass 2,500 units and move towards another perennial upward record.
