Buyers in the mood after rise?
Investors will be looking today to see whether the Athens bourse can build on last week’s gains with sentiment receiving a boost from advancing global markets. Last week, the Athens bourse’s benchmark general index ended at 1,527.62 points, adding 5.27 percent on bank-led gains. Brokers said news from Greece’s treasury bill auction tomorrow is likely to help shape sentiment as players look to see how markets react to the government borrowing money for the first time since taking up the EU and International Monetary Fund’s 110-billion-euro rescue plan. With investors adopting a wait-and-see stance for results from stress tests on Greek banks, due at the end of next week, and more clues on government efforts to restore its fiscal health, turnover is likely to remain low. Last Monday, turnover on the Athens bourse fell short of reaching 40 million euros, hitting a seven-year low, and failed to pick up significantly for the rest of the week. Initial positive indications on how Greek lenders will perform in the stress tests helped boost the sector 6.7 percent last week, according to some market experts. Meanwhile, the US stock market finished its best week in a year on Friday, with brokers saying that there is some potential for positive earnings surprises this week before the start of the reporting season.
