With a slight gain of 0.30%, the stock market closed the week ending positive for a sixth straight week, during which the benchmark gained 6.49%, while since the beginning of 2024 it is up 10.35%.

The market’s attention in the week ending was focused on the public offer for 27% of Piraeus shares, which was completed with great success.

After the completely successful placement of 27% of Piraeus and more generally after the withdrawal of the HFSF from the banks, the international rating agency Standard & Poor’s emphasizes that Greek banks are entering the salons of major international investors, with long-term perspectives and great returns.

A new strong vote of confidence for Greek banks is also given by Moody’s, a few days before its assessment for Greece, on March 15, estimating that in 2024 the performance of the Greek banking sector will be very strong.

According to Axia Research, the rise of the market continues. In terms of valuations, the AX continues to be one of the cheapest markets internationally as the profitability momentum of Greek companies has not been fully valued by the market. The P/E of the FTSE/ASE Large Cap index remains significantly lower at 8.1 than this MSCI emerging market index (11.3) and the pan-European STOXX Europe (12.3).

He expects that the profitability of Greek listed companies will continue to grow at a strong pace. Another “magnet” that is expected to attract the attention of investors is the timing of the return of A.H.A. in developed market status. Its “top picks” and target prices for 2024 are: Alpha Bank (2.30 euros), Eurobank (2.50 euros), Ethniki (8.80 euros), Piraeus (5.00 euros), PPC (22.60 euros), GEK TERNA (24.80 euros), Mytileneos (43.10 euros), Jumbo (31.40 euros) and EXAE (6.40 euros).

The General Price Index closed the week at 1,427.02 points, against 1,422.75 points the previous week, marking a weekly increase of 0.30%. Since the beginning of 2024 the main stock market index has recorded gains of 10.35%.

The FTSE/ASE 25 large-cap index closed the week with a small gain of 0.10% and since the beginning of 2024 is up 10.74%. The FTSE MID mid-cap index ended the week marginally down 0.03%, while it has gained 8.19% since the start of the year.

The banking index closed the week down 0.65%, while since the beginning of 2024 it has gained 15.93%.

The total value of transactions in this week’s sessions was €1,833.361 million, while the average daily value of transactions was €366.672 million, up from €106.534 million last week. The explosive increase in turnover is due to the trading of packages of Piraeus shares which were transferred as part of the plecement for 27% of the bank’s shares.

The total market capitalization this week increased by 148 million euros and reached 98.387 billion euros, while since the beginning of the year it has increased by 10.499 billion euros.