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Retail prices eased for the 15th month in a row, offering consumers a breather according to Hellenic Statistical Authority data for May, when prices in the country dropped 2 percent on a yearly basis.

The figures released on Tuesday showed that the most significant price reductions concerned potatoes, fresh fruit and vegetables, apparel items, natural gas and vehicle insurance rates.

Greek industrial output fell 2.2 percent year-on-year in April, from a downwardly revised contraction of 2.7 percent in the previous month, statistics service ELSTAT said on Tuesday.

The decline is primarily due to a 3 percent fall in manufacturing production.

By Stathis Kousounis

Expectations that tourism arrivals from abroad will soar this year are supported by the first statistics for May concerning four of Greece’s main regional airports that Kathimerini has seen.

The Producer Price Index in Industry (PPI) recorded an increase of 0.4 percent in April 2014 compared to the same month the previous year, according to figures released by the Hellenic Statistical Authority on Friday. The index in April 2013 had recorded a decrease of 2.7 percent.

The benchmark’s seven-session rising streak came to an end at the Athens bourse on Thursday, as the news of Alpha Bank’s better-than-expected first-quarter results was tempered by the departure of the lender’s head, Yiannis Costopoulos.

Gambling monopoly OPAP posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit due to a rise in sports betting and cost-cutting.

The company said first-quarter net profit rose 27.6 percent to 49.7 million euros, beating the average forecast of seven analysts in a Reuters poll of 44.5 million euros.

The local bourse’s sixth consecutive day of gains, made on the strength of the balanced election results and a return to normality, took the benchmark above the 1,200-point level on Tuesday, with improved first-quarter results also playing a role. The Greek market had not seen six straight days of growth in over three months.

By Stathis Kousounis

Athens hotels enjoyed the highest increase on a European level in terms of their average occupancy rate in April, as the latest STR Global report on the continent’s hotels showed that the Greek capital’s rate grew 17.3 percentage points, reaching 64.9 percent.

Notably, Greek Easter was in April this year, while in 2013 it has been in May.

A Council of State decision that raises obstacles to the privatization of the Athens Water Company (EYDAP) and the election of a new Piraeus mayor who is against the sale of the OLP port authority failed to dampen investors’ relief on Monday at Greece’s European and local election results, which appear to have reduced the chances of an early general election, for now at least.

Unaffected by the country’s credit upgrade by Fitch, the Athens bourse benchmark spent most of the day on Friday hovering around Thursday’s level. However, it enjoyed a significant rise in the last couple of hours as confidence that Sunday’s elections will not harm political stability grew.