FTSE

Buyers expecting to see Greek stock prices rise on Tuesday after two sessions of major losses were sorely disappointed. The benchmark and the majority of stocks ended lower, while Greek bond prices also dropped.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 611.75 points, shedding 0.38 percent from Monday's 614.08 points. On a monthly basis it gave up 4.95 percent.

The selling spree that began at the Greek stock exchange on Friday, due to fears generated by Thursday's Eurogroup, continued on Monday, boosted by Moody's description of the delay in the bailout review as a "credit negative" event for Greek banks.

There was no hiding investors' disappointment on Friday following Thursday's Eurogroup, after which the distance between Athens and its creditors appeared to stretch wider. Greek stocks took a dive, reversing all of the gains the benchmark had recorded during the week.

The majority of Greek stocks posted gains on Thursday, in anticipation of positive news from the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels. The optimism, however, did not extend to banks.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 660.59 points, adding 0.21 percent to Wednesday's 659.19 points.

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.

The European Stability Mechanism's decision to unfreeze short-term debt lightening measures for Greece, and the seven consecutive sessions of decline for the banks index fueled a significant upturn on Tuesday both in stock prices and turnover.

Traders showed on Monday they are not willing to make any major moves before Thursday's Eurogroup meeting, with stocks showing hardly any movement at the start of the week, and trading volume falling even lower than on previous days.

This time the main index of the Greek stock market lost its grip on the 640-point level on Friday, posting losses of just over half a percentage point at the end of the session on prolonged uncertainty regarding the completion of the second bailout review and the participation of the International Monetary Fund in the Greek program.

The benchmark of the Greek bourse recovered most of the day's losses on Thursday to close above 640 points, but traders remained reserved.

It was another mixed day for Greek stocks at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday. While the benchmark edged higher after three days of losses, the majority of stocks, as well as the banks and small-caps indices, still ended lower. Turnover remained below the 30-million-euro level.