Can banks keep up the good run?
Investors will be taking positions on whether the Athens bourse will be able to extend recent gains when trading on the stock market resumes tomorrow. Interest in banks, which have gained 57 percent in the last month, has been growing as talk of merger activity in the sector resurfaces. Hopes that the crisis may not hit the economies of Southeastern Europe – where Greek lenders have significant exposure – as hard as initially expected, have helped boost investor interest in the sector. Gains in banks have helped lift the Athens Exchange’s benchmark general index 28 percent in the last month. The index had slumped to a seven-year low at the end of February. An annual report from the Bank of Greece, due out on Wednesday, will provide investors with more information about the state of the Greek economy. The Athens bourse will be closed today due to the Western Easter holiday.
