Yet another unimpressive ATHEX session

The underwhelming activity at the Athens Stock Exchange continued Thursday, with the general index closing with gains this time, after two sessions with losses, but with the same low turnover and narrow trading band.

With one session left, all signs point to August closing with overall losses. More second-quarter financial statements are coming up, but those that have already been published, and which show significant profitability and good future prospects, barely caused a ripple in the market.

Perhaps some impetus will be provided by the banks' autumn roadshows and the upcoming, total or partial, sale of the Financial Stability Fund's sale of its remaining 18% stake in National Bank.

The general index closed at 1,426.91 points, a gain of 0.11%, on turnover of €89.03 million. Blue chips gained 0.09% and mid-caps 0.24%.

Among non-bank blue chips, PPC,...