Foreign bourses to shape sentiment
The course of foreign markets will largely dictate trading patterns on the Athens bourse this week due to thin domestic news. The benchmark general index remains range-bound, trading between 3,100 to 3,500 points for the sixth consecutive week. Analysts said talk about a new government tax being introduced on dividends as well as concerns about the health of the global economy have been harming investor sentiment. Last week, the Athens bourse retreated 1.08 percent for the week, bringing its losses to 36.2 percent since the start of the year. Most of the market’s larger blue chips are not expected to report second-quarter earnings until the week beginning August 26. Alpha Bank, Greece’s third-largest lender, and betting monopoly OPAP report first-half figures on August 26. Greece’s largest bank, National, and OTE telecom will announce first-half figures on August 28.
