Eurobank

Bank stocks and a number of other blue chips worked toward a significant increase of the main index at Athinon Avenue on Monday. The benchmark is returning close to its decade highs recorded earlier this month, helped also by mid-caps, which outperformed on the day.

The Greek bourse ended its first losing week in more than a month after a mixed session that saw blue chips growing but the main index as well as the majority of stocks shrinking. A number of prearranged packages sent the daily turnover very high, though net trading was rather slow.

A number of blue chips, including banks, attracted significant buying interest at Athinon Avenue on Thursday, with the benchmark rebounding after two days of decline and closing near the day's highs. Still, the rest of the board saw little action, with considerably lower trading volume.

The statements by European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde about an upcoming easing of interest rates offset the adverse impact from the significant decline late at Wall Street on Tuesday, so the benchmark of the Greek stock market recorded only marginal losses on Wednesday.

Tuesday's decline at the Greek stock market was widely anticipated following eight consecutive sessions of gains for the benchmark that came off Monday's 10-year high. Traders cashed in recently accumulated profits, with the main index posting its biggest daily slide in three months.

Unfazed by the decline of the banks index and the majority of stocks, the main index of the Greek stock market started the week with its eighth consecutive session of growth to register yet another 10-year high. A profit-taking move now appears long overdue. The daily trading volume was predictably reduced, given the holiday in the US.

For a third day in a row, the Greek stock market's benchmark rose to new highs on Friday despite a decline in mid-caps and the majority of stocks. The main index at Athinon Avenue has therefore recorded yet another 10-year high in the face of profit-taking for most of the day's session. This seventh consecutive session of index gains had the lowest daily turnover of the week.

Thursday was a historic day for the Greek stock market, as the sixth consecutive day of growth for blue chips and the main index sent its benchmark to heights unseen in almost a decade. The new 10-year record for the bourse came without the support of mid-caps, which declined for a second day in a row. Banks more than made up for that, as they outperformed.

The fifth consecutive session of gains for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue took it to yet another five-month high on Wednesday, although the majority of stocks and the mid-cap index posted a decline. Banks pulled the blue-chip index higher to secure an extension of the growth that profit-takers will seek to capitalize.

Stocks at Athinon Avenue recorded yet another day of growth on Tuesday, with the benchmark rising for the fourth session in a row to reach a new five-month high. However, the banks index recorded an even more memorable feat, as it climbed to highs unseen in six-and-a-half years, boosted by successive reports pointing to upcoming profits and credit expansion.