Coca-Cola Hellenic

By Luca Casiraghi

Greece has become such a dirty word in international debt markets that companies are shunning any links to the country to access funds.

Greek stocks continued to slide on Tuesday as the benchmark edged mighty close to the psychological threshold of 1,000 points, registering a new 12-month low.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 1,012.05 points, shedding 2.26 percent from Monday’s closing of 1,035.43 points. The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 index contracted 1.29 percent, ending at 337.37 points.

The prospects of a Greek sovereign debt rating upgrade by Moody’s next Friday pushed most local stocks higher on Thursday on improved, but still not satisfactory, turnover.

Coca-Cola HBC (CCHBC), the world’s No 2 bottler of Coca-Cola Co drinks, plans to delist its shares held in American depositary receipts (ADRs) on the New York Stock Exchange next month, it said on Monday.

The European Central Bank’s decision to cut its main interest rate and positive local unemployment data gave the bourse benchmark the push required to clear the 1,280-point mark on increased turnover on Thursday, in what is evolving into one of the best weeks of the year for stock prices.

Alpha and Coca-Cola HBC kept the bourse benchmark above the psychologically significant level of 1,220 points on Friday following an earlier decline that had brought daily losses close to 1 percent.