FTSE

The main index of the Greek stock market rose to highs unseen since September 6 on Wednesday, on the combination of the end-of-year window dressing for many investors and the prospect of a possible credit rating upgrade for Greece by Fitch on Friday. The benchmark spent the entire day in the black and the daily turnover managed to clear the 100-million-euro bar for another session.

The Greek stock market benchmark came off a 12-week high on Tuesday to post minimal losses, in what was a mixed session that saw banks return to price growth and the majority of stocks heading lower, while turnover remained at Monday's high levels.

The decline of the stock of National Bank of Greece did not suffice to prevent the benchmark from climbing to a new 12-week high on Monday. The daily turnover reverted to high levels at the start of the week that might bring Greece once again to climbing the steps to investment grade as Fitch Ratings will issue its verdict on Friday.

The fourth straight day of gains for the benchmark at the Greek stock market saw banks and certain blue chips leading the way, as opposed to the blue chip index, which posted a minor loss. Most of the action focused on the credit sector, which is seeing plenty of activity in stake sales these days, attracting the strong interest of foreign traders.

Athinon Avenue recorded a third successive day of gains on Wednesday, on the back of Tuesday's major rise, though this time traders appeared to be more interested in carefully taking positions than spreading their buying across the board. This was also reflected in the day's turnover, which was reduced compared to the two previous days.

Stocks soared on Tuesday at Athinon Avenue, with traders shifting most of their attention to banks, which saw their index jump by almost 6% driven by the huge interest in the public offering of National Bank.

The stocks of Greek banks sent turnover at the local bourse soaring on Monday, as they accounted for about 90% of the nearly 400 million euros traded at Athinon Avenue on the day, helped by the divestment of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund from Alpha and National. Prices varied, with winners edging out the losers by the smallest of margins.

The decline of the benchmark at Athinon Avenue continued on Friday for a fourth day in a row, only this time at an accelerated pace and with twice as many stocks declining as those that reported growth. The main index was down by as much as 1.55% at one point during the session, exercising some damage limitation toward the end.

For the third day in a row the benchmark of the Greek stock market closed with losses that affected half the board's stocks. However, on Thursday the turnover was significantly increased compared to previous days. Banks led the decline, with the exception of National Bank, while corporate results continued to dictate the moves of investors.

Wednesday's session at the Greek stock market was a mirror image of the day before, as the main index again posted small losses, while mid-caps outperformed and winning stocks were level with those that declined for a second day in a row.