…lifts year-to-date gains to 45%
Bank of Cyprus shares powered ahead to a 4-year closing high on Friday on the back of intense speculation that the stock will be among the first wave of entrants into the new International Sophocleous index, which will comprise the top Greek stocks worth at least EUR 100 mln and over.
The ASE plans to introduce its super league index in October, with some 90-100 stocks and there is strong speculation that BOC, which is listed both in Cyprus and Greece will be among the new entrants.
An entry for BOC, which remains out of all Greek indices means a huge increase in buying interest, since all the funds that track index performance will have no other choice but to allocate funds to the stock, thus increasing its appeal.
BOC shares closed at a new 4-year closing high of CYP 2.17 for a daily gain of 1.9% in brisk trade, taking its year-to-date gains to 45%, by far the best investment performance in Cyprus.
In Greece, which has been the engine powering the BOC rally on the back of strong foreign fund buying, the BOC shares surged to EUR 3.80 or CYP 2.177 in mid-day Friday trading, bucking the declining trend on the ASE.
The BOC rally also spilled over onto other stocks. Laiki Bank closed 1.5% higher at CYP 1.49, while Hellenic Bank was up 1.6% at 49.6 cent.
Total volume on the CSE on Friday amounted to CYP 1.5 mln on 1156 trades, with 37 titles closing higher, 19 lower, 21 unchanged and 90 with no trades.
The CSE GENX closed a fresh record of 93.23, for a daily gain on 0.99% and year-to-date gain of 28.5%. The FTSE/CySE 20 large cap index was up 1.6% at 462.73 points for ytd gains of 37% while the CSE Main/Parallel market index was up 1.6% at a fresh closing high of 1371.19 for 35.5% ytd gains.
Based on technical analysis prepared by the Financial Mirror, the outlook is extremely positive and once the short-term over-bought situation corrects, then more gains towards the next chart objective of CYP 2.55 could be seen. This is also confirmed by a look at the BOC chart in Greece, with near-term resistance seen at EUR 4.00 level, after which the way is open for a move to EUR 4.60 or CYP 2.63. First technical support is seen at 2.07/2.10 followed by 2.02.
