Greek shares finished lower on Thursday, with weakness in banking, telecommunications and household-related stocks outweighing gains elsewhere. At the close in Athens the Athens General Composite fell 0.54%.
Among the session’s strongest performers were Austriacard Holdings AG (AT:ACAGr), Optima bank SA (AT:OPTIMAr) and Elvalhalcor Hellenic Copper and Aluminium Industry SA (AT:ELHA). Austriacard led advancers, rising 6.39% or 0.45 points to close at 7.49. Optima bank added 3.46% or 0.29 points to finish at 8.67, while Elvalhalcor gained 3.44% or 0.16 points to end the day at 4.81.
Below are the session’s top movers:
- Top performers:
- Austriacard Holdings AG (AT:ACAGr) +6.39% to 7.49
- Optima bank SA (AT:OPTIMAr) +3.46% to 8.67
- Elvalhalcor Hellenic Copper and Aluminium Industry SA (AT:ELHA) +3.44% to 4.81
- Lagging names:
- Alpha Bank SA (AT:ACBr) -4.24% to 4.02
- Eurobank Ergasias SA (AT:EURBr) -3.26% to 4.19
- Avax SA (AT:AVAr) -2.60% to 3.37
Market breadth was tilted toward declines, with 63 issues falling and 49 advancing on the Athens Stock Exchange; 23 stocks finished unchanged.
Two stocks reached notable price milestones during the session. Shares of Austriacard rose to 52-week highs, increasing 6.39% or 0.45 to 7.49. Elvalhalcor shares climbed to five-year highs, gaining 3.44% or 0.16 to 4.81.
Commodities and foreign exchange markets recorded mixed moves during the trading day. Gold Futures for April delivery were reported down 2.67% or 142.74 to $5,197.46 a troy ounce. In energy markets, crude oil for March delivery rose 3.18% or 2.01 to $65.22 a barrel, while the April Brent contract increased 2.88% or 1.94 to $69.31 a barrel.
Currency pairs saw limited change: EUR/USD was unchanged at a 0.25% move to 1.19, and EUR/GBP was unchanged at a 0.15% move to 0.87. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.09% at 96.36.
The session captured a mix of sector-level pressure and idiosyncratic strength among individual issuers, leaving the headline index modestly lower at the close.