Coca - Cola HBC

The significant declines recorded by most stocks on the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) on Friday wiped out all the benchmark gains recorded during the week, as sellers returned in the afternoon of July's triple witching day. Banks led the slide, while Coca-Cola HBC contained the losses of the blue-chip index.

The inevitable drop in Greek stock prices following the notable gains registered in the last few sessions came on an exceptionally low trading volume on Thursday. Most indexes closed near their day's low and there is no sign of anything that might convince traders to turn their attention back to the local stock market any time soon.

Coca-Cola HBC led the Greek stock index higher on Thursday as the biggest company listed in Athens enjoyed a rise of 3.50 percent, just as the majority of stocks headed lower. Turnover narrowly cleared the 30-million-euro bar.

The slight drop of the benchmark 10-year bond's yield, which was at 3.85 percentage late last night, and the positive sentiment across the majority of eurozone stock markets helped the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) to register moderate gains on Tuesday.

The payment of stock dividends at Athinon Avenue, the negative climate on international markets and the increasing devaluation of the market (through the ongoing Folli Follie saga and the loss of buying interest in mid- and small-caps), led to significant losses for the majority of Greek stocks on Thursday.

There was little movement on the local stock exchange on Wednesday as the rises registered by most European markets and the decline of the Greek benchmark bond's yield failed to impress traders. With two sessions left till the end of the year's first half, banks continued to lose ground. The credit sector's stocks have returned to prices below those of their last recapitalization.

The June triple-witching, the FTSE index rebalancing and the concern generated among banks by the forced transfer of 7 billion euros of state entity reserves to the Bank of Greece saw bank stocks slump at the end of the week, which weighed heavily on the benchmark at Athinon Avenue.

Greek stocks continued their ascent for a fifth day in a row on Tuesday, as the international climate turned more favorable, although trading volume remains at particularly low levels more reminiscent of August than June.

Bank stocks on Tuesday led the benchmark at Athinon Avenue to a third consecutive session of losses, albeit marginal, while the overall picture was quite patchy, with mid-caps and small-caps registering gains. The gains registered by PPC and Coca-Cola HBC offset most of the blue chip index's losses.

For the first time in 2018 the Greek bourse benchmark chalked up five consecutive days of growth, as Wednesday's roller coaster of a session ended with blue chip buyers on top again, lured mainly by bank stocks, which continued to rally. However, the majority of stocks ended the day in the red.