The Athens Stock Exchange started the new year on the right foot, surpassing the limit of 1,300 units. The stock market closed the first week of 2024 up 1.43%, showing resilience to the “imported” decline in international markets.

The new year has embedded the expectation of a reduction in interest rates from the second half.

Central Banks, however, are not bound by the Markets’ estimates and will remain committed to strictly monitoring changes in inflation.

While the minutes showed Fed officials are now more optimistic that inflation is coming under control, paving the way for possible rate cuts in 2024, there is an unusually high degree of uncertainty about how, or if, that will happen. this. This rhetoric seems to dampen expectations that awaited the Fed’s first interest rate cut move in March.

The international stock markets received additional pressure from the increase in US government bond yields. The recovery in yields reflects growing skepticism about the possibility of a rate cut relatively soon.

Geopolitical developments have also weighed on investment psychology. The conflict in the Middle East will keep volatility high in the markets while the risk of escalation has not disappeared.

The consolidation of 1300 units can again give movement to the very important zone of 1330 – 1350 units, the conquest of which is the next “bet” of the market.

The General Price Index closed the week at 1,311.67 points, against 1,293.14 points the previous week, marking a weekly gain of 1.43%.

The FTSE/ASE 25 large-cap index closed the week up 1.42%, the FTSE MID mid-cap index ended the week up 0.61%, while the banking index ended the week up 1.45%.

The total value of transactions in this week’s sessions was 299.566 million euros, while the average daily value of transactions was 74.892 million euros.

The total market capitalization this week increased by 1.349 billion euros and stood at 89.237 billion euros.