Investors watch out for Q2 figures
Investors will be keeping a close eye on more second quarter earnings figures to be released this week. Bank profits will go a long way toward determining market sentiment, with players waiting to see if Alpha Bank and National, two of the country’s largest lenders, will keep to their three-year targets or revise them lower due to the economic slowdown and increased volatility in capital markets. Results from ATEbank on Friday have boosted expectations in the sector after the state-controlled lender reported better than expected earnings, in news that sent its stock up more than eight percent. On Friday, the Athens Exchange’s benchmark general index ended at 3,296 points. International market sentiment will also play a leading role in developments this week on the Athens bourse. Last week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.3 percent, while Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) declined 0.5 percent and the NASDAQ Composite Index gave up 1.5 percent.
