Economic indicators

The Fed's {decision on Wednesday to hold the key US interest rates unchanged inflicted losses on most European stock markets on Thursday; the Greek bourse followed suit, with its benchmark heading south for the third day in a row, on the lowest daily turnover in 11 sessions.

Losses accelerated at the Greek stock market on Wednesday as buyers were far outnumbered by buyers and the benchmark closed at the day's low. Bank and energy stocks lost much of the ground gained in recent days.

Traders had appeared set to cash in recent stock gains at Athinon Avenue on Thursday, but the European Central Bank's announcement that assistance for eurozone member-states would be boosted contained the drop in prices, while the mid-cap index went up.

Bank stocks were back in the driving seat at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday, taking the Greek bourse benchmark to a new three-month high - i.e. its highest since the coronavirus epidemic began in Greece. The 700-point milestone seems to be growing closer, while investors appear to have plenty of disposable cash.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market now has the 700-point level in its sights after its sixth day of gains in seven sessions. Construction blue chips led the way this time.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 658.35 points, adding 0.88% to Friday's 652.58 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 0.52% to 1,579.70 points, while mid-caps contracted 0.25%.

The upcoming rebalancing of the MSCI Greek stock indexes and profit taking after five consecutive days of gains led to losses at Athinon Avenue on Friday, with a huge daily turnover. Notably 70% of trading volume took placing during the closing auctions. The benchmark of the Athens stock market ended May with a monthly advance of 3.87%, though banks lost 2.94%.

The European Commission announcements concerning grants and loans for member-states adding up to 750 million euros gave Greek stocks a major boost on Wednesday, in line with most other European bourses. The fourth consecutive day of gains on the highest turnover of the last two-and-a-half months took the benchmark over 8.5% higher compared to last Thursday's closing.

On a day when Wall Street and the London Stock Exchange remained closed, the Greek bourse secured a rather satisfactory turnover of almost 50 million euros on Monday, with traders opting to position themselves ahead of this Friday's upcoming index rebalancing. Leading the benchmark to strong gains were bank stocks, which were oversold in previous sessions.

The majority of stock prices recovered from early lows on Wednesday to end the session with gains. However, banks failed to stage a recovery, as buyers appeared more interested in specific blue chips outside the credit sector, such as energy stocks. 

Bank stocks led the Greek bourse lower on Tuesday, in line with most European markets, as traders chose to cash in the gains recorded in the last couple of sessions at Athinon Avenue. The market is now awaiting Wednesday's new package of measures aimed at restarting the economy.