Market jumps 9.8 per cent to snap losing streak

By Hamza Hendawi

SHARES closed sharply higher yesterday, halting a four-session skid that shaved nearly 16 per cent off their value.

Brokers said yesterday’s steep rise was largely due to heavy buying by investors who went bargain hunting as a result of the sharp drops of the past four sessions.

“I cannot say whether this upward trend will continue for the rest of the week but there may be some profit-taking tomorrow,” said Stavros Agrotis of CISCO, the Bank of Cyprus’ brokerage.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange’s all-share index closed up 69.93 points, or 8.90 per cent, at 783.22 on a modest volume of £32.82 million. Yesterday’s close took to 764.19 per cent the market’s gains so far this year. The index’s all-time high was reached November 29, when it closed at 849.30, representing gains of 837.10 per cent on the year.

Such spectacular gains had led to widespread speculation that the losses incurred since last Thursday signalled the start of a massive downward correction which had been expected for months. But brokers and analysts have maintained throughout that the drops were caused by investors liquidating their holdings to buy into new issues due to hit the market before the end of the year.

One such issue, investment powerhouse Athienitis and Severis, began trading on Tuesday. At a nominal value £0.50 and sold to investors at £2 apiece, the share closed at £18.50 on Tuesday and at £22 pounds yesterday, an appreciation of 825 per cent and 1,000 per cent respectively over two sessions.

All of the market’s seven sectors finished sharply higher yesterday with trading companies the biggest winner. The three-company sector jumped by 21 per cent, slightly ahead of industrials, which leapt by 20.10 per cent. The sub-index of insurance companies was up by 15.21 per cent, while the blue- chips of the banks finished the day up 9.91 per cent.

The Bank of Cyprus, the market supremo, finished more than £1 up at 11.52, while Popular Bank closed at £15. Hellenic Bank also regained some of the territory it had lost over the past four sessions, closing at £5.30.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.