Bourse enjoys major rise in capitalization
The stock market capitalization in Athens has been soaring over the last three months thanks to the entry of foreign hedge funds, which has seen daily turnover on Athinon Avenue rising to much higher levels.
On July 15 the Athens Exchange capitalization amounted to 55.9 billion euros, while exactly three months later it had climbed by almost a fifth to 66.57 billion. Already the country’s three biggest lenders have been placed among the top four blue chips, with National Bank at 9.46 billion euros, Piraeus at 7.60 billion and Alpha at 6.97 billion, while Coca-Cola HBC, previously the leader, is now in third on 7.58 billion.
September proved to be the second-best month this year (after May) in terms of the contribution by foreign funds to the local bourse, amounting to 186.29 million euros.
However, traditional funds that take long-term positions in market are still steering clear of the local bourse, as they are monitoring the data of the Greek economy and trying to predict when Greece will return to the bond market, according to traders.
