BOC gains another 4.2%

Bank of Cyprus shares powered to another record close, gaining a spectacular 13 cent or 4.26% on Wednesday to yet another record close of CYP 3.18, which matches a previous high since 2001, while the Bank’s shares made a fresh close in Greece.

In brisk trade, the BOC shares smashed through minor resistance lines to close Wednesday at CYP 3.18, a level not seen since January 2001, on heavy volume worth CYP 2.6 mln.

The picture in Greece was even better, as the BOC shares closed at a fresh five-year high of EUR 5.74 or CYP 3.29 on record volume of 5.8 mln shares worth EUR 32.9 mln or CYP 18.8 mln.

According to Financial Mirror charts, the BOC shares have touched their first objective of EUR 5.74 in Greece while in Cyprus, there is still room to go until the chart resistance level of CYP 3.38 is met.

The rally on BOC shares pushed the share prices of Laiki Bank and Hellenic Bank also higher. Laiki Bank closed 2.3% higher on Wednesday at a fresh record close of CYP 2.22.

The next objective on the Laiki charts is the 2.31 level, followed by 2.38, which is a previous high since March 2001. After that, the coast should be clear for an assault on the CYP 3.06 level, the high since January 2001.

Hellenic Bank meanwhile closed at 80 cent, up 3.9% on the day. HB is now likely to challenge the 87 cent level, which is the high since December 2002.

FANTASTIC RETURN

The rally on the banking share titles has been instrumental in lifting the performance of the CSE GENX (Main & Parallel index).

The GENX closed at a fresh record high of 2055.53 on Wednesday, up 3.6% on the day taking its gains since the start of the year to 20%.

Many investment company titles such as Demetra, Apollo, Cytrustees, Dodonis and Interfund were among the best performers amid expectations that in the current bull market conditions, the major gap between the traded price of the investment companies and their net asset values (NAVs) will close.

APOL closed 4.5% higher at 27.5c, ATH was up 4% at 23c, DEM was up 4.4% at 28.5c and CYTR was up 5.2% at 80c.