Market Comment
After Friday’s 14-year high, AthEx lost some ground on Monday, on moderate pressure more akin to profit-taking and less so concerns about the imposition of US tariffs on European exports.
- Mid-caps ended up on the winning side and rising stocks outnumbered the losers, albeit by a small margin.
General index closed at 1,551.90 points, shedding 0.38% from Friday’s 1,557.83 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.50%, ending at 3,781.42 points, though mid-caps expanded 0.72%.
- The banks index conceded 1.17%, as Alpha parted with 1.68%, Piraeus lost 1.25%, Eurobank gave up 1.08% and National Bank eased 1.06%. Metlen grabbed 2.43%, while Cenergy Holdings dropped 2.03% and ElvalHalcor declined 1.98%. In total 60 stocks boasted gains, 55 posted losses and 46 remained unchanged.
Turnover amounted to €115.1m, down from last Friday’s €130.4m.
- It seems that 1.550 level is a critical resistance and some extra push may be needed from domestic news-flow for a convincing breakthrough. Uncertainty over tariffs and macro data announcements (US CPI tomorrow) may keep investors’ interest selective and consolidate the market.
In the Spotlight
AthEx/January 25 Stats: ATHEX announced market statistics data for January 2025. In detail:
§ Foreign investors during January 2025 had inflows of €2.01m, while domestic investors had outflows of €2.01m. Note that in the large cap FTSE-25 inflows from foreign investors stood at €14.7m.
§ Foreign Investors accounted for 59.7% of total transactions’ value during January 2025 (compared to 57.9% during the previous month), while Domestic Investors accounted for 40.3% (compared to 42.1% during the previous month).
§ The allocation of the total Value of Assets Under Custody at the end of January 2025, was set: foreign investors held 65.40% of the total value, while domestic investors held 34.60%.
§ The countries of tax residency holding the highest Value of Assets Under Custody (individual segregated accounts) were U.S.A. (total value of assets €14.95bn), Cyrpus (total value of assets €10.33bn) and the Germany (total value of assets €6.06bn).
§ Another positive note was that active accounts stood at 23,566 vs. 21,142 in December 2024 while 2,617 new accounts have been made vs 1.288 in December 2024.
Greece/industrial Production: According to ELSTAT, industrial production index accelerated 5.8% in December 2024. For the whole 2024, industrial production was up 5.2% vs 2023.
Greece/Banking Sector: Additional loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), totaling over 250 million euros, are expected to be granted by banks with the support of the Entrepreneurship Fund (TEPIX III) of the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), which was reinforced with €100 million.
- The increase was decided by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance after the exhaustion of the available resources for the co-financed investment and working capital loans granted so far, which exceeded €450 million.
The possibility of submitting new applications through the KYC –Know Your Customer – electronic platform of the HDB and the Integrated State Aid Information System, began on Monday.
Greece/MSCI: MSCI rebalancing to take place today. Potential new entry in the Greek index is Titan.
Fourlis: 843K rights resulting in an equal amount of new shares issue related to the company’s stock option plan (up to 1,597,000 rights) exercised at €1/share to company’s 64 executives.
Metlen: Fairfax through the exercise of its call option regarding the convertible bond back in 2023, acquired a further 1.75% stake in Metlen (2.5mn shares at €20/share) thus rising its total exposure to 6.43% (9,188,047 shares) from 4.68% previously (6,688,047 shares).
Bank of Cyprus: S&P Global Ratings has just returned Bank of Cyprus’ investment grade, upgrading it to the BBB- level from BB+. According to the rating agency’s report, the upgrade reflects the reduced reliance of Cypriot banks on non-resident deposits and the improvement in the loan-to-deposit ratio.
- S&P notes that Cypriot banks have strong liquidity, with stable funding ratio reaching 188% in mid-2024, while the liquidity coverage ratio stood at 328%. At the same time, it highlights that the decline in non-resident deposits continues, with their share dropping to 14.1% by the end of 2024, compared to 38% in 2012.
This development is considered positive by the rating agency, as it reduces the risk of sudden capital outflows. According to S&P, Bank of Cyprus has particularly high liquidity, with 29% of its assets in cash.
- Although declining interest rates may impact interest income, the report states that the bank has implemented risk-hedging strategies and efficiency improvements. The bank’s loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 50% in September, while the cost of risk is expected to decrease to 65 basis points by 2026, from 83 basis points in 2024.
Sarantis: BOD Chairman Mr. K. Sarantis bought on February 5 30,112 shares at €11.3/share. Also mrs. A. Saranti, BOD member bought on February 7 2,964 shares at €11.31/share.
Alpha Trust: FY:24 results on April 11. AGM on May 22. Ex dividend date May 27. Dividend record date May 28. Dividend payment June 3. H1:25 results September 19.
Briq Properties: FY:24 results on March 27. AGM on April 29. Ex dividend date May 23. Dividend record date May 26. Dividend payment May 29. H1:25 results August 7.
Austriacard Holdings: On February 6, BOD Chairman Mr. Lykos bought 100K shares for €600K (€6/share).
Greece/AthEx: Reportedly the government is opening the floor for public consultation regarding the new legal framework in Capital Markets. The draft law includes interventions in the Stock Exchange, a tighter framework for cryptocurrencies and targeted regulations to reduce private debt. At the same time, a special tax regime for cryptocurrencies will be brought forward later this year. The key elements of the bill to strengthen the Capital Market are:
§ Incentives to enhance the effective functioning of the Stock Exchange: These include measures to encourage demand and the listing of new companies on the Stock Exchange to increase liquidity and market competitiveness.
§ Thresholding of supervisory mechanisms: The powers and competences of the Capital Market Commission and the Bank of Greece are strengthened, in line with best international and European practices, for more effective market supervision.
The bill establishes rules to protect investors in cryptocurrencies by enhancing transparency and imposing stricter controls to prevent illegal activities. Supervision of crypto markets will be entrusted to either the Capital Market Commission or the Bank of Greece, while a criminal provision for illegal transactions is also introduced. Already, European Regulation 2024/1114 (MiCA) has come into force, establishing uniform rules for:
§ Transparency in public offerings and trading of cryptocurrencies,
§ The licensing and supervision of crypto service providers,
§ The protection of investors and the prevention of market manipulation
On the private debt side, the bill includes five interventions, with a central focus on raising the thresholds for inclusion in the out-of-court mechanism.
§ The income and property criteria for inclusion in the out-of-court mechanism are doubled, provided that the debts do not exceed 300,000 euros.
§ Mandatory proposal of arrangement by creditors before the auction, at least three months before the auction.
§ Discharge of debtors without bankruptcy proceedings: a judge will be able to determine the complete cancellation of debts if the debtor’s assets are insufficient.
Buybacks
Web Sources: Bloomberg, Reuters, Euro2day, Capital, Liberal, Newmoney, Kathimerini, Energypress, Naftermporiki, Athens Macedonian News Agency , Oikonomikos Tahidromos, Mononews, Business Daily, Morning View, Economistas, Power Game, Insider, Bankingnews, Economico, Worldenergynews, AthEx.
στο Google News και μάθετε πρώτοι όλες τις ειδήσεις
