The Athens Stock Exchange may have closed in the black for the fifth consecutive session, but the overall index closed well below daily highs as some seller activity shortly after 3 pm significantly capped strong intra-session gains for banks and individual blue chips.

Analysts warn that high volatility is expected in the current period, while investors generally remain on the fence, waiting for positive messages either from long-term corporate results or from macroeconomic data. Forecasts for the markets will be challenging in the near term and with lower trading volumes, with trading in a certain price range being the most likely scenario, and this is of course the case for the General Index as noted by Depolas Investment Services.

In session statistics, the General Index closed up just 0.10% to 1,069.32 points, up 1.08% at the highs of the day, and turnover reached 86.6 million euros. The Large Cap Index advanced 0.19% to 2589.68 while the Mid Cap Index closed up 0.29% to 1550.73.

Among non-banking blue chips, Autohellas closed up 2.31%, followed by Mytilineos and Motor Oil, both up 1.80% and 1.49%. On the other hand, ELVALHALCOR and Lamda Development closed down over 2%, while Aegean, Biohalco, GEK TERNA, PPC, OTE and Sarantis lost over 1%.

The overall index closed yesterday up just 0.10% to 1069.32 points from a daily high of 1.08%.

The banking index closed up 0.90% to 789.14, up 2.39% intra-session, with Eurobank up +1.94%, Piraeus up +1.32% and National up +0.81 %, while Alpha Bank recorded losses. 0.55%.

Losses on the Greek Stock Exchange were particularly large in March, nearly three times for banks compared to losses in the General Index, Dimitris Tzanas, management consultant at Kyklos AHEPEY, noted. This, he points out, was the result of the Tempe tragedy, which brought back political risk, as well as financial turmoil in the US and Europe, which caused banking stocks, including Greek ones, to sell off all over the planet. . However, something is changing in recent days, as central banks have already acted effectively, at the same time they are likely to reconsider their policy of raising interest rates.

At the same time, in Greece there are repeated reports about the safety of Greek banks and their excellent prospects from investment houses. In the fiscal realm, the April 24 ELSTAT announcements are expected to address the realization of the primary surplus for 2022, as indicated by the Office of the Budget. At the same time, listed companies will make increased cash payments of 2.6 billion euros.

In connection with the above, the Greek Stock Exchange registers a positive trend: the sellers have entered into a truce, and the General Index has overcome the area of ​​1,052-1,057 units and reached higher levels. However, as Mr. Tzanas concludes, all of the above was achieved through positive results in international markets, and it is impossible to consider the results as evidence of the autonomy of the Hellenic Stock Exchange.