Ellaktor

Just like in Tuesday's session, stocks started with gains at Athinon Avenue on Thursday but eventually had to settle for losses. Despite the positive start on Wall Street, the closing auctions at the same time in Athens took the main index lower, beyond -1%, on increased turnover.

After heading south in the previous three sessions, Greek stocks in Athens reversed course on Wednesday, with most ending up in the black and the benchmark reclaiming the 800-point level it had lost on Tuesday. The expected reopening of the retail market is seen as a catalyst for some short-term gains in the coming days.

The Greek bourse began the day on an upward course on Tuesday, but as the session went on it started losing steam and eventually settled for moderate losses for the benchmark. It ended up below the 800-point mark for the first time in more than two weeks.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market narrowly managed to avoid dropping below the 800-point mark on Monday as investors indulged in profit taking following the recent gains enjoyed by most stocks. All but two blue chips suffered losses, led by banks, in line with most other European markets.

The Greek bourse hit the ground running on the first trading day of 2021 on Monday, with prices growing as the session progressed and the closing auctions taking the benchmark above 820 points for the first time in almost 11 months. This time it was mainly energy stocks and other non-bank blue chips that led the index higher.

The Brussels-London agreement over a trade deal and the start of the vaccination process gave the Greek stock market another boost too on Monday, with the benchmark easily clearing the 800-point bar to reach highs unseen in 10 months. As the year draws to a close, the losses observed in 2020 are gradually being reclaimed.

Greek stocks recovered somewhat on Tuesday from Monday's slump due to the UK's troubles with the mutation of the coronavirus and the impasse in the Brexit talks, as the benchmark climbed back up to 780 points. However, the level of trading volume indicated that the minds of many were already occupied with the holidays.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market reverted to its northbound course on Wednesday, but once again it ducked back below the 800-point mark before the close, after testing the waters during the session. It will probably take one more final push for the index to reach that level, and with tomorrow seeing the last triple-witching session of the year, anything is possible.

The Greek bourse endured some pressure during Tuesday's trade, but the benchmark only suffered minimal losses, the majority of stocks secured gains and bank stocks continued to rise, although turnover did drop to its lowest level in the last 14 sessions.

Fresh hopes of a Brexit deal on Tuesday gave stocks across Europe a fresh push, with Greek stocks following suit to take the local market's benchmark back up to within striking distance of the 800-point level. Turnover has increased in the last few sessions, this being the last full trading week of the year.