Percentage

Ranging from major losses (down 4.67 percent) to marginal gains (up 0.20 percent), the benchmark of the Greek bourse reflected the various shift in trader sentiment on Tuesday, a day after another inconclusive meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Greek debt.

Two thirds of Romanians - 64.4 per cent - believe the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is dangerous to Romania, according to the findings of a recent INSCOP poll released on Monday.

Photo credit: (c) inscop.ro

As many as 17.9 per cent believe it is not dangerous to Romania, while 17.7 do not know/did not answer.

The Turkish Statistical Institute's survey shows a drop in the percentage of happy people in the country in 2014.

A lower percentage of Turkish people were happy in 2014 compared to the previous year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute's "Life Satisfaction Survey 2014," published on Feb. 13.

The European Central Bank?s decision not to accept Greek bonds as collateral for local lenders to gain access to liquidity as of next Wednesday, along with the Greek and German finance ministers? meeting, weighed heavily on the Athens bourse on Thursday. However the 9 percent drop at the start of the session had been reduced to just 3.37 percent by the end.

Traders rushing to exit the Greek bourse at the end of Thursday?s session led to the benchmark closing on the day?s low, as investor jitters rose on the scrapping of the euro cap on the Swiss franc along with uncertainty regarding the formation of the next Greek government.

By Roula Salourou

The slight but steady decline in the unemployment rate continued in October 2014, when it dropped to 25.8 percent from 26 percent in the previous month and from 27.8 percent a year earlier, the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) announced on Thursday.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta says his governments brought the rate of utilization of European funds from 7 percent in May 2012 to 52 percent; the target for 2015 is 75-80 percent of the available structural and cohesion funds, he declared on Thursday.

Photo credit: (c) Cristian NISTOR / AGERPRES PHOTO

More than 50 percent of Romanians think 2,000 lei (nearly 450 euros) is the minimum necessary income for a single person to have a decent living, an opinion poll conducted by the IRES research institute shows.

According to the results of this study communicated to AGERPRES on Saturday, only one in 100 Romanians says they have enough money for all they want.

Growing optimism among traders and investors that this month’s elections will not result in a leap into the unknown for the economy, reflected also in statements by Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis, gave local stocks fresh impetus on Friday, although turnover remained very low in what was the first session of the new year.

The year ended in the Greek stock market with annual losses of 29 percent for the benchmark, but Wednesday provided an unexpected rise to prices that left some observers wondering what it is they may have missed and the traders have already in mind.