Alpha Bank

Alpha Bank's deal with Italy's second largest bank, UniCredit, was a touch of optimism in the gloomy environment of very low expectations that currently dominates the Greek economy.

Greece's state-controlled bank bailout fund HFSF said on Monday it had launched a process to sell its 9% stake in Alpha Bank.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) last week received an offer from Unicredit for the stake as part of the Italian lender's plan to become Alpha Bank's biggest investor.

In mid-2000, Greece had just become the 12th member of the Economic and Monetary Union. For a long time, several European bankers were counting the opportunities and capital gains that could be hidden in the Greek banking system.

Alex Patelis, the chief economic adviser to Greece's Prime Minister, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss the significance of Standard and Poor's decision to upgrade Greece to investment grade and UniCredit's offer to buy Greece's stake in Alpha Bank, while outlining the government's next goals when it comes to the economy. 

Tuesday's session at Athinon Avenue was a one-stock show as it was the first day of trading for Alpha Bank after the major proposal tabled by UniCredit for the Greek lender's stake that bank bailout fund HFSF holds, and the merger of the Italian bank's operations in Romania with those of Alpha. As a result Alpha jumped 12.44%, while most other local stocks registered gains too.

Italian group UniCredit is proceeding to establish a strategic partnership with Alpha Bank, submitting a proposal to acquire the 9% stake held by bank rescue fund HFSF in the lender.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market staged an impressive rebound late in Friday's session to come back from 1% down and close with gains of almost 1%. Banks led the way for the recovery of the index, though that was not enough to offset all its weekly losses.

September began at Athinon Avenue with concerns expressed by traders after the first hour related to the global economy and the fear of stagflation. That led the benchmark to losses of almost 1% and a drop below the 1,300-point mark on Friday.

The Athens Stock Exchange rose slightly on Thursday but could not scramble above 1,300 points, a level it has found difficult to sustain.

Investors made selective moves in some stocks and turnover was relatively low for a second session in a row.

The general index closed at 1,295.91 points, a 0.17% gain. Blue chips declined 0.11%, mid-caps gained 0.73% and banks slid 0.44%.

A favorable climate in European markets and investor interest in banks and several blue chips helped the Athens Stock Exchange return to the 1,300-point level on Tuesday.

Despite some selling towards the end, the general index gained 1.18% to close at 1,300.47 points on turnover of €92.9 million. Blue chips gained 1.34%, mid-caps 0.96% and banks 1.77%.