Bank of Cyprus shares continued their specactular rally, closing at yet another record high of EUR 4.12 or CYP 2.36 in Greece on Thursday in brisk trading, while in Cyprus the price closed also at a record of CYP 2.29.
Total volume on the BOC shares in Greece hit 1.74 mln for a value of EUR 7.08 mln or CYP 4 mln, which was the double of the total volume transacted on the CSE on Thursday amounting to CYP 1.9 mln.
In intra-day trading, the BOC shares hit a high of EUR 4.14 before settling at EUR 4.12, while in Cyprus, the share price closed at CYP 2.29 on total volume of CYP 1.2 mln.
The CSE GENX meanwhile hit a three-year closing high of 96.55 points on Thursday following strong gains recorded by the banking sector.
The FTSE/CySE 20 was also up at a fresh closing high of 484.79 points, while the CSE Main/Parallel index closed at a record high of 1433.97.
Laiki Bank closed at CYP 1.57 while Hellenic Bank remained stuck at 53 cent.
The main reason why investors are snapping up the Bank’s shares in an aggressive way is because of speculation that when the International Sophocleous index makes its debut in October, it will include BOC along with Greece’s top 90-100 companies.
ASE visit
Some investors are hoping that an early indication of whether or not BOC will be included in the forthcoming super-league index may be announced on Friday, September 16 when the Chairman of the Athens Stock Exchange visits Cyprus.
As exclusively reported by the Financial Mirror last week, ASE Chairman Spyros Kapralos is due to sign a number of agreements with the CSE towards the establishment of a common trading platform, as well as discuss how Cypriot companies will be included in the ASE indices.
According to research made by the Financial Mirror, only six stocks in Cyprus meet the minimum EUR 100 mln market capitalisation criteria for entry into International Sophocleous. They are BOC, CPB, HB, LUI, VCW and VIP. However, the candidates also need to meet other qualifications such as minimum public float.
CSE Chairman Kleanthous and ASE Chairman Kapralos are due to hold a round table discussion on Friday where more details are likely to emerge regarding the future plans of both exchanges.
