Int’l climate affects ATHEX
The Athens stock market was severely affected last week by the turbulence on global markets due to the rise in eurozone interest rates, the rebound of oil prices and various geopolitical tensions (Russia, Iran, North Korea, etc), forcing the ATHEX general index to close the week on Friday 2.46 percent lower than the previous week, at 4,850.83 points. The first week of June began with four consecutive sliding days and only on Friday, toward the end of the session, was there an element of correction that moderated losses. Average daily turnover showed a decline of about 10 percent from the previous week Local and foreign investors chose to liquidate their gains from the May rise, although small-caps maintained their positive course, catching up with the rise which other stocks had registered over previous months. The FTSE/ASE-80 small-cap index actually posted a significant 2.49 percent weekly rise, against the movement of the other indexes. The year started with the local market showing very positive momentum, outperforming mature as well as emerging markets. Though now, the direction of markets is far from clear. Nikos Chrysochoidis, CEO of the Chrysochoidis stockbrokerage, maintains that the Athens Exchange is now ranked among the mature markets and is entirely coordinated with major markets of Western Europe. He believes that the Athens market will continue its upward course, accompanied by the necessary corrections that will render the general index more stable. The director of the analysis department of BETA stockbrokerage, Vassilis Vlastarakis, believes that the dominance of bank stocks will continue during 2007 and expects business developments in the sectors of metals, energy and telecommunications.
