The Athens Stock Exchange General Index closed at 2,628 points on Tuesday, up 0.65%, marking a fresh 17-year high a day after the market broke through the 2,600-point barrier for the first time in years.
The session saw nine changes in market direction, with banking stocks coming under significant pressure for much of the day before turning positive by the close.
Banks Turn Positive After Early Pressure
The FTSE/Athex Large Cap index closed up 0.42%, the Mid Cap index jumped 1.12% and the banking index gained 0.62%. Turnover reached 273 million euros, with block trades worth close to 18 million euros.
In total, 62 stocks rose, 42 fell and 19 were unchanged. The biggest gainers were Alpha Bank, up 1.73%, Bank of Cyprus, up 2.28%, Jumbo, up 3.05%, and Cenergy, up 4.66%. Public Power Corporation fell 0.44%, Allwyn dropped 0.59% and Coca-Cola HBC lost 1.56%.
The gains extended a rally from Monday, when the General Index climbed 1.64% to a then 17-year high of 2,611.77 points on turnover of 293 million euros, below the 100-session average of 312 million euros.
The Athens Stock Exchange is Greece's main securities market, and the General Index tracks the performance of its largest listed companies.
Corporate Earnings in Focus
Attention this week is also on a heavy schedule of corporate earnings alongside geopolitical developments. Bank of Cyprus published its results before Tuesday's session opened, reporting after-tax profit of 252 million euros for the first half of the year and an interim dividend of 105 million euros for 2026.
During a later conference call, the bank's management declined to commit to distributing an additional 20% of net profits, saying the decision would be made alongside the full-year results, though it struck a clearly positive tone.
Cenergy was due to release its own half-year results after the close of trading. Public Power Corporation, HelleniQ Energy and Coca-Cola HBC are scheduled to report on Wednesday, followed by Metlen on Thursday.
AVAX Signs Romania Solar Deal
Among other corporate news, construction group AVAX signed a new contract worth 100.2 million euros with DEI Renewables to design, build, commission and maintain a 275.5 megawatt solar park in western Romania, including grid connection works.
It is the fourth agreement between the two groups, following a 173 million euro contract signed in April for the construction of a 525 megawatt solar park in Kozani, further boosting AVAX's order backlog in energy projects.
Analysts Turn Bullish on Greek Stocks
UBS began coverage of GEK Terna with a buy recommendation and a price target of 55 euros, describing the group as a unique investment opportunity in Greece's rising infrastructure champion and one of the most attractive investment picks in the European infrastructure sector.
JPMorgan raised its price target for Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, known as OTE, to 21.60 euros from 20.20 euros previously, but kept a neutral rating, noting that the upside from the current price of 20.34 euros was limited to around 6%.
A series of reports from international ratings agencies also brought positive news for Greek banks. Scope Ratings said it expects Greek lenders to raise their targets for 2026, driven by loan growth and fee income. UBS kept its buy rating on all four systemic Greek banks, with price targets of 5.10 euros for Eurobank, 12 euros for Piraeus Bank, 18.70 euros for National Bank of Greece and 4.90 euros for Alpha Bank. DBRS concluded that Greek banks are entering the second half of 2026 with strong fundamentals, leaving them better prepared to withstand potential external shocks while maintaining prospects for further growth.
Wall Street Hits New Records
The main Wall Street indexes opened at new record highs, lifted by strong earnings from Palantir Technologies and Caterpillar. At the same time, oil prices fell sharply as expectations grew of a possible agreement between the United States and Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to a fresh intraday record, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9%, with Palantir shares surging more than 20% after its earnings announcement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 772 points, or 1.4%, also reaching a new record high, led by Caterpillar shares, which rose about 10%.
Oil Prices Tumble on Iran Talks
Markets also received a boost from comments by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said in a CNBC interview that talks with Iran were under way. He said the two sides could reach a deal as soon as that day or the next to reopen the Strait and move toward a calmer situation in the conflict.
His remarks triggered a sharp drop in oil prices. US crude futures, West Texas Intermediate, fell about 5% to 76 dollars a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped about 4% to near 80 dollars a barrel.
Asian and European Markets Rally
Sentiment was also positive across Asia-Pacific markets, which closed higher. South Korea's Kospi rose 1.62% to close at 6,358.95 points, while the small-cap Kosdaq index jumped 5.8% to finish at 780.72 points. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 closed up 0.32% at 63,957.53 points, while the Topix was nearly unchanged at 3,961.78 points.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.4% to close at 9,145.8 points, and mainland China's CSI 300 rose more than 1% to close at 4,600.93 points.
A few hours before European markets closed, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.80%, Germany's DAX gained 0.82%, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.29%, Paris's CAC 40 added 0.42% and Italy's FTSE MIB jumped 1.17%.
