BOC premium closes

Bank of Cyprus shares trading on the Athens Stock Exchange tumbled 2.46% on Friday to end at EUR 4.76 or CYP 2.72, essentially closing the premium at which they have been trading compared to their price on the CSE, which on Friday closed at CYP 2.72.

The closing of the gap may indicate a turn for the downside on the CSE on Monday, since usually, the gap between the two exchanges has set the tone for trading on the CSE.

The higher the premium of BOC shares on the ASE, the higher the pace of rally on the CSE and now the reverse may be true if there are more losses on the BOC shares on Monday.

In another massive increase in volume, BOC shares trading on Sophocleous ended 2.46% down at EUR 4.76 on Friday compared to their record Thursday close at EUR 4.88. Total volume amounted to 4.3 mln shares for a value of EUR 20.55 mln or CYP 11.8 mln, which was 4.3 times the total volume transacted on the CSE Friday and 10.5% of the total EUR 196 mln volume transacted on the ASE.

While Greece tumbled lower, the BOC shares in Cyprus continued edging higher, winning another 1.87% on Friday to end at another record high of CYP 2.72 on total volume of 433k shares for a value of CYP 1.18 mln.

The Friday close finds BOC trading just a notch below its April ‘01 high of CYP 2.75, which is the first chart objective. A conclusive break above 2.75 is seen propelling the shares to the next objective of CYP 2.89, then the January 2001 high of CYP 3.37.

The BOC push spilled over on the shares of Laiki Bank, which ended 0.57% higher at CYP 1.77 on 315k shares volume or a value of CYP 564k, while Hellenic Bank shares were unchanged at 58 cent.

The CSE GENX closed 0.85% firmer at 106.97, a fresh record close, while the CSE Main/Parallel index ended up 1.26% at 1645.04 points, its highest since it made its debut in September 2004.

Total volume on the CSE on Friday amounted to CYP 2.7 mln on 1772 trades, with 45 titles closing higher, 26 lower while 105 were unchanged or did not see any trades, according to AGFN, the CSE data provider.