MAKING NEWS NOW /
Athens Stock Exchange outperforms world equities amid investor interest in Greek assets
Drawn by Greece’s growth story and despite rising global uncertainty, foreign investors have been driving a months-long rally on the Athens Stock Exchange, making it one of the best performing stock markets in the world.
For the period January through June, the ASE Composite Index rose 27.1% compared to a 9.1% rise in the MSCI All Country World Index – far surpassing first half returns in other major markets. The strength of Greece’s equities rally – and the country’s future growth prospects – also drew the attention of pan-European stock exchange and trading platform Euronext, which this month offered to buy the ASE for an initial €399 million all-share deal. The deal, which is still under negotiation, would mean that the ASE would join the largest liquidity pool in Europe.
According to data from the ASE, Greek banking stocks helped lift overall gains on the market, with the banking index rising more than 50% in the first half to its highest level in a decade. But the most recent gains also cap five consecutive years of rising foreign investment in Greek stocks thanks to a series of successful IPOs, share capital increases, private placements, strategic business transactions and progressive upgrades of the ASE in global indices.
In 2025, foreign investor interest reached a record-high 68.5% of total market capitalization and accounted for 61.6% of turnover, up from 50.8% five years ago. Likewise, net foreign inflows totaled €1.5bn over the 2021–2025 period, with €455 million just in 2025.