Bourse

Though few admitted to it, there was much anticipation that Friday's triple-witching session at the Greek bourse would be the one to take the benchmark above the psychologically significant level of 800 points.

Following Thursday's sudden and seemingly unjustified decline in the stock of listed construction firm Ellaktor on the Greek bourse, the Athens-based group issued a statement refuting market rumors that it is in financial trouble.

Titan Cement and Public Power Corporation ensured the benchmark of the Greek bourse remained in the black for one more day on Thursday, though it was still below recent highs.

After a difficult and turbulent 2018, the Greek stock market has been savoring its best four-month period since 1999, with only four sessions left till the end of April. The benchmark at Athinon Avenue has recorded gains of 26.92 percent since the start of the year, which is the second highest return in the world after the main bourse in China.

A consortium led by Kuwait's National Investment Co and including the Athens bourse won a tender to acquire 44 percent of the Kuwait stock exchange.

"There are plans by the Kuwait exchange for an IPO at a later stage to sell 50 percent and get listed," Socrates Lazaridis, CEO at Hellenic Exchanges, told Reuters last Thursday.

Investment interest in the Greek stock market appears to be experiencing a revival after a long time, with the prestige of the local bourse having taken a hard knock from the 1999 bubble and the continuing financial crisis.

Helped on by the highs recorded in the market of London and Frankfurt, the Greek bourse started climbing back up on Tuesday, toward the 800-point mark it came close to last week.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 788.78 points, adding 0.83 percent to Monday's 782.32 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 0.86 percent to 2,095.67 points.

Borsa Istanbul Chair Himmet Karadağ is set to meet with the producer of the Turkish version of the popular reality show Survivor, Acun Ilıcalı, in accordance with the stock exchange's latest endeavors to share popular TV shows' yields with investors.