FTSE

On a day of reduced turnover, the Greek stock market recorded losses on Tuesday following two days of growth, in what seemed like a full reversal of Monday's rebound. More than just cashing in on recent gains, traders sent bank prices into a nosedive, partly due to the downgrade of JP Morgan's guidance on Greek stocks from "buy" to "neutral."

The French election result that diminished the possibility of the far-right governing alone, boosted eurozone stocks on Monday and offered the Greek bourse some much-needed fuel for further recovery, greater than last Friday's. Banks continued to drive price growth, helping Athinon Avenue make a very positive start to the year's second half.

Greek stocks posted a moderate rebound at the end of a week that overall showed a decline. The benchmark had a promising start to the day, but buyers soon ran out of fuel and most stocks had to settle for only a small recovery after three consecutive days of price declines.

For a third day in a row the main index of the Greek stock market recorded losses on Thursday, but the defense line at the 1,400-point level held and it appears prices at Athinon Avenue are about to rebound on Friday as things stand. The local market appears oversold in the short term and a rebound now seems to be due, assisted by several corporate developments as well.

The Greek stock market saw its decline from Tuesday accelerate on Wednesday, with banks and several other blue chips bringing the bourse's benchmark close to the 1,400-point level. Uncertainty both domestically - as described by the Monetary Policy Report of the Bank of Greece - and abroad with the elections in France and the UK in the next few days are adding to traders' reluctance to buy.

Corporate dividends, French election concerns and the upcoming ending of the year's first half led to a variety of trends among Greek stocks on Tuesday, after the long weekend. The course of prices was more affected by every individual stock and not by a general or sector-specific trend. The session also marked the debut of Athens International Airport in the blue chip index.

Despite the disappointment from MSCI's failure to include Athinon Avenue in its "watch list" for upgrading to "developed markets," and despite the drop of the banks index, the benchmark of the Greek bourse ended Friday with small gains, adding to the weekly rise it has managed ahead of the long weekend.

The government announcement of the 33% levy on the excessive earnings of refineries had a direct effect on the share prices of both Motor Oil and Helleniq Energy, impacting the rest of the market too. However, GEK Terna and its subsidiary Terna Energy benefited on the latter's sale to Masdar, on a day of significantly increased turnover at Athinon Avenue.

Blue chips at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday maintained their rising course that had started on Tuesday, though the majority of stocks finished the day with losses, on a day of reduced turnover, partly due to the national holiday in the US (Juneteenth).

Buyers have finally reacted to recent pressure by sellers at the Greek stock market, and on Tuesday the benchmark recorded a notable rebound, moving away from the 1,400-point level it had dangerously approached in previous days. The day's rise was bolstered by the record highs on the US bourse the day before and the mild gains in other eurozone markets.