athens exchange

Traders in Athens on Friday appeared to be holding back to see whether Greece's bailout review will be accelerated or postponed until later this year (at the expense of the local economy). Trading volume was less than 30 million euros and no significant moves or changes were observed.

Hopes cultivated by reports that a solution will be found between Athens and its creditors gave local stocks a small push on Thursday.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 623.06 points, adding 0.65 percent to Wednesday's 619.05 points.

After three sessions with total benchmark losses of 7.4 percent, the Greek stock market headed north on Wednesday, although this was due to buyers taking advantage of the drop in prices rather than any significant fiscal or corporate developments. The rise in trading volume was quite encouraging.

Buyers expecting to see Greek stock prices rise on Tuesday after two sessions of major losses were sorely disappointed. The benchmark and the majority of stocks ended lower, while Greek bond prices also dropped.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 611.75 points, shedding 0.38 percent from Monday's 614.08 points. On a monthly basis it gave up 4.95 percent.

There was no hiding investors' disappointment on Friday following Thursday's Eurogroup, after which the distance between Athens and its creditors appeared to stretch wider. Greek stocks took a dive, reversing all of the gains the benchmark had recorded during the week.

Bank stocks powered the Greek bourse higher on Wednesday, with reports about a possible end to the bailout review saga by late February boosting short- and medium-term market confidence. Trading volume was the highest recorded this month.

The European Stability Mechanism's decision to unfreeze short-term debt lightening measures for Greece, and the seven consecutive sessions of decline for the banks index fueled a significant upturn on Tuesday both in stock prices and turnover.

Traders showed on Monday they are not willing to make any major moves before Thursday's Eurogroup meeting, with stocks showing hardly any movement at the start of the week, and trading volume falling even lower than on previous days.

This time the main index of the Greek stock market lost its grip on the 640-point level on Friday, posting losses of just over half a percentage point at the end of the session on prolonged uncertainty regarding the completion of the second bailout review and the participation of the International Monetary Fund in the Greek program.

The benchmark of the Greek bourse recovered most of the day's losses on Thursday to close above 640 points, but traders remained reserved.