ATHEX: Morning gains disappear as traders cash in

The early gains observed during trading on Friday in Athens had all been cashed in by the end of the session as investors seemed to have factored in the outcome of the Eurogroup in Luxembourg and were not as impressed as bond buyers. The closing auctions brought most indexes down to their day-low, with PPC also weighing on the benchmark, but this time turnover topped 80 million euros.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 771.18 points, shedding 0.22 percent from Thursday's 772.89 points, despite having been up by 2.50 percent in early trade. On a weekly basis it expanded 1.01 percent.

The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.42 percent to 2,015.05 points.

The banks index edged 0.03 percent lower, with a range of different fortunes: Alpha rose 2.04 percent, Piraeus added 0.20 percent, Eurobank slid 1.55 percent and National gave up 2.03 percent. PPC...