Investors weighing market momentum
Investors will be looking to see whether Greek equities will continue to outperform their European peers this week, with the year’s third quarter winding up on Wednesday and the approach of general elections on Sunday. On Friday, the Athens bourse’s benchmark general index added 0.09 percent to 2,611.56 points, bringing gains for the week to 2.20 percent. Favorable reports by Merrill Lynch on Greek banks boosted the sector, which advanced 5.17 percent for the week. Merrill Lynch upgraded EFG Eurobank to «buy» from «underperform» and Alpha Bank to «neutral» from «underperform.» Brokers noted the higher trading volumes in recent sessions as being a positive development, indicating increased trading interest in Greek stocks by foreign portfolios. Last week European stocks posted their steepest weekly drop since July as US reports on home sales and durable goods undermined speculation that the global economic recovery will be robust. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index lost 2.4 percent to 238.95 points over the week.
