Greek banks lift Athens index as Europe steadies

Banks are doing most of the heavy lifting on the Greek exchange, with National Bank of Greece, Eurobank and Piraeus Financial among the day’s strongest performers, alongside Coca-Cola HBC and Allwyn. Losses in Hellenic Petroleum, GEK TERNA, Piraeus Port and CrediaBank are offsetting part of that move.

The bank bid matters because Greek lenders have become one of the market’s main earnings and dividend stories, helped by higher lending rates, a narrower gap between deposit and loan rates and improving profitability prospects. Investors have also been re-rating the sector on expectations of sustained cash returns, with the market increasingly looking through regional geopolitical noise.

Broader European markets are also stabilizing after a weak start, as investors monitor efforts to end the seven-month conflict in the Middle East. Germany’s DAX and London’s FTSE 100 have recovered, Paris’s CAC 40 is up nearly 0.5%, while the pan-European STOXX 600 is still slightly lower around 645 points.

For investors, the message is that bank strength is still providing support in Athens even as the wider region remains volatile. The next catalyst is likely to be any further shift in Middle East diplomacy, along with fresh positioning in European financials.