Athens Stock Market: Head in Fitch, heart in profits

The Athens Stock Exchange enters its last session of the week, hovering near the highest levels of the last 15 years.

The General Index, which stands around 1,800 points, has recorded a rise of +2% on a five-day basis, despite the fact that yesterday it fell by -0.29%.

Besides, the large upward movement of the last few weeks has clearly caused fatigue among buyers, who choose to take back part of their gains. Let’s not forget that the gains exceed +21% since the beginning of 2025.

On the other hand, however, the traditional rotation, combined with the strong fundamentals, the satisfactory dividend yields and the improved climate abroad, offer valuable support, which do not allow the General Index to move away from the “peaks” of the last 15 years.

The first quarter results in a sample of 20 listed companies shows signs of high resilience, as the total so far is only -2.4% lower (in terms of net result) than last year’s corresponding performance.

In the meantime, investors’ eyes are focused on Fitch Ratings, which will publish its first report on the Greek economy tonight. The current rating is at BBB- with a stable outlook, i.e. on the basis of investment grade.

There are also developments in the share capital increase of Europe Holdings, as today the deadline for exercising pre-emptive rights expires. This means that the process is expected to be formally completed next week, with the new shares being listed for trading on May 26.

The share of the ThPA also stands out as it is moving at its highest levels since 2008.

The picture abroad

Regarding foreign markets, they seem to maintain the positive climate, having as a main support lever the US-China agreement for a 90-day trade truce. At the same time, developments in Ukraine are also in the spotlight, with the Istanbul meeting between Kiev and Moscow taking on the form of a thriller.