GEK

The trading week in Athens ended a day early on Thursday with the benchmark posting a small drop on low investor interest.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 588.67 points, shedding 0.13 percent from Wednesday's 589.46 points. On a weekly basis it declined by 0.90 percent.

It was more of the same for Greek stocks on Monday, with the benchmark slipping further away from the 600-point mark and trading volume remaining below 30 million euros. It has become pretty clear by now that it will take concrete fiscal or corporate developments for the situation on the Greek bourse to change.

Greek stocks staged a mini rally on Friday with the benchmark recording its biggest one-day rise in the last month-and-a-half, partly due to expectations that Moody's will raise the country's sovereign credit rating and partly thanks to the growth trend on European markets.

The benchmark on the Greek bourse on Wednesday edged up for a fourth straight day to reach levels unseen since the British referendum on its departure from the European Union on June 23. Yet a drop among small-caps meant that the majority of stocks in the market registered losses and trading volume returned to below 30 million euros, as traders remain in search of a new direction.

The reserved optimism coming from Brussels about a decision on Monday in favor of the disbursement of the long-anticipated bailout tranche of 2.8 billion euros helped the Greek stock market register small gains on Friday, led as usual by bank stocks.

The Greek bourse saw sellers focus on its non-bank stocks on Thursday, leading to notable losses for its benchmark.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 566.58 points, shedding 1.47 percent from Wednesday's 575.06 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index contracted 1.68 percent to end at 1,524.17 points, though small-caps rose 1.26 percent.

The notable growth recorded during Tuesday's trading session, which saw the benchmark climb above the 650-point mark for a few hours, was reversed by a late selling spree in banks, although the main index still ended the session with gains. Trading volume was particularly high, mainly thanks to the MSCI index rebalancing.

Three out of the eight parties interested in purchasing a majority stake in Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) have dropped out of the race, as only five of the original candidates have responded to a new invitation for expressions of interest by state privatization fund TAIPED.

The handful of traders who took an interest in the Athens stock market on Monday only did so to ease out of the bourse amid growing concerns that capital controls may be imposed as a deal between Greece and its creditors remains elusive. Trading was also at a record-low due to the public holiday in most European countries, on top of the prolonged uncertainty over the talks.

Measured optimism that the market may have seen the worst yet generated early gains at the local bourse on Wednesday, but the changes imposed on the MSCI index setup regarding Greek chips left the benchmark virtually unchanged from the previous day at the end of the session.