Foreign players up stakes
Foreign investors increased their positions in Greek stocks in May as the Athens bourse ranked among the best-performing markets in Europe, according to data made public yesterday. The Hellenic Exchanges group, the holding group that operates the Athens bourse, said in a statement that foreign portfolios upped their holdings to 48.7 percent of total shares from 47.2 percent the previous month. In May last year, that figure stood at 53.5 percent. In May, the Athens bourse’s benchmark general index advanced 13 percent, climbing just over 30 percent since the start of the year. Gains on Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC and London’s FTSE 100 ranged between 3 to 4.1 percent for the same month. Average daily transactions in Athens grew to 260.6 million euros versus 204.4 million in April. The number of retail players trading in shares increased, with active investor accounts reaching 84,439 versus 68,357 in the previous month.
