FTSE/Athex Large Cap

Non-bank blue chips including Lamda Development, OTE and OPAP buoyed the benchmark of the Greek stock market on Wednesday, which only posted marginal gains despite the increase in trading volume. While a fourth consecutive session of decline was averted, it appears that reaping gains from the bourse in the medium term will demand patience.

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 failed to match the momentum recorded on other European stock markets on Wednesday, posting marginal gains on very low trading volume. OPAP gaming company and a few other blue chips kept the main index afloat despite the notable decline of banks.

The Greek stock exchange had a mixed session on Tuesday, with the losses recorded during the day all but offset toward the closing bell, while rising stocks outnumbered losers after another drop in trading volume.

The Bank of Japan's surprise decision to keep interest rates unchanged against expectations for a drop deeper into negative territory bolstered most European bourses on Wednesday before interest turned toward the Fed verdict, but the Greek stock market felt little of that positive effect.

The Greek bourse continued to slide on Thursday, with more pressure expected on Friday due to September's triple witching.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 551.93 points, shedding 0.76 percent from Wednesday's 556.13 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index fell 0.80 percent to end at 1,471.47 points.

The benchmark of the Greek bourse moved within a particularly narrow margin of just four points on Wednesday, as investors saw no reason for any major moves while talks with the country's creditors are ongoing and international markets are holding their collective breath ahead of next week's central bank decisions in the US.