Eurobank

The prospect of long-drawn-out negotiations between Athens and its creditors is testing the patience of investors, and that, combined with jitters regarding the Dutch general election and the Fed's interest rate decision, led to further losses at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday.

Investors in the local bourse were clearly nervous on Tuesday - largely due to the increase in Greek lenders' dependence on the Bank of Greece's emergency liquidity mechanism, as well as Single Supervisory Mechanism head Daniele Nouy's visit to Athens - and this resulted in significant losses for the vast majority of stocks at Athinon Avenue, with banks leading the way.

Athens-listed company Trastor Real Estate Investment Company SA said in a bourse filing on Monday it has acquired a 456-square meter property in central Athens for 1.1 million euros.

The building, which comprises offices, is leased in its entirety by Eurobank.

Former Eurobank chief executive officer Christos Megalou is the new head of Piraeus Bank, completing the administrative changes in the group after more than a year.

The benchmark of the Greek bourse halted its four-session losing streak and rose by almost 1 percent on Wednesday. Its gains were curtailed in the closing auctions when many traders chose to cash in the day's gains, likely recalling how short-lived the recent bursts of optimism regarding the course of the bailout review have proved.

The negative result of the revised economic figures for 2016, which pointed to a 0.05 percent yearly contraction on Monday, was the outcome of the decline in investments that offset the rise in consumption, along with the net negative impact of the external trade. That contraction will also have an adverse effect on 2017, too, which is already showing worrying signs.

The downward revision of the economy's fourth-quarter results by statistics agency ELSTAT increased uncertainty at the local bourse on Monday, leading to the third consecutive session of losses for its benchmark, albeit not to the extent one might have expected considering the problems in the bailout review and the warning from Moody's.

Local stocks headed south in the week's last session, with blue chips - led by banks - clearly suffering after government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos's statement that the time of the bailout review's completion is unknown. The continued drop in trading volume is another factor worrying market observers.

Deposits in Greek banks recorded losses of 2 billion euros in the year to the end of last week, with the decline putting an end to the growth registered in the latter half of last year. Crucially, if the contraction continues it will undermine any prospects of a gradually easing of the capital controls anytime soon.

March got off to a positive start on the Greek stock market, as the reserved optimism that the bailout review will eventually be concluded successfully was buoyed by Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos's statement about a staff-level agreement by March 20. Trading volume also posted a notable increase.