Metka

Bank stocks powered the Greek bourse higher on Wednesday, with reports about a possible end to the bailout review saga by late February boosting short- and medium-term market confidence. Trading volume was the highest recorded this month.

Yet one more session on the Greek bourse went almost a full day with the benchmark in the red, before a late rally offset losses to give marginal gains to the main index through the support of one of the market's biggest stocks, Coca-Cola HBC.

The Greek bourse benchmark finally cleared the 650-point level on Tuesday to record a new seven-month high, as the certainty of Greece finally meeting all the bailout review requirements pushed stock prices higher at the end of the session.

Optimists came out on top at the end of Thursday?s Athens bourse session, as the positive signs from the meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to have give the negotiation process a boost. It was the second consecutive day of gains for the benchmark, although trading volume slipped below 100 million euros.

The Athens stock market reopened on Tuesday after a four-day break, making moderate gains on particularly low turnover as traders are expecting the results of Wednesday?s Euro Working Group meeting as well as the outcome of the prime minister?s visit to Moscow.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 777.47 points, adding 0.80 percent to Thursday?s 771.32 points.

German airport operator Fraport along with Greek energy group Copelouzos was named the preferred bidder to lease and operate 14 of Greece's 39 regional airports, the country's privatisation agency said on Tuesday.

September started with marginal losses at the Greek bourse and the fourth-lowest daily turnover this year as investors continued to stay away due to the lack of a clear fiscal landscape ahead of talks between Athens and its international creditors. The revision of the economic contraction during the second quarter by ELSTAT did not help matters either.

The Athens stock exchange general index headed upward for a sixth consecutive day on Tuesday, rising by 1.56 percent to 1,177.35 points.

This means that the benchmark has risen by a total of 8.36 percent over the last six sessions.

There was a big increase in the turnover during Tuesday’s session.

It reached 92.84 million euros, compared to 44.7 million on Monday.

Greek equities posted gains for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, in line with stocks elsewhere in Europe which were helped by a Morgan Stanley report forecasting benefits for firms from the projected slide in the euro. The market was also bolstered by news of a near end to the Greek recession and the disbursement of a 1-billion-euro bailout tranche.

A third day of losses for most stocks on the Greek bourse has taken the benchmark index to its lowest point of the last 17 sessions, with banks again leading the way for sellers.