Eurobank

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.

The Greek stock market reversed its morning losses to end the day with some gains in the face of a mixed picture in European markets due to the Brexit-related turbulence. Foreign portfolios continue to take an interest in local stocks - after the net inflow of 14.7 million euros last month - with blue chips rebounding and trading volume topping €150 million.

The Greek bourse benchmark's 14-session rising streak - the first this century - came to an end on Thursday, with significant losses for the majority of stocks, although not all blue chips followed the bank stocks on their steep decline. At any rate, the benchmark demonstrated that it is not yet ready to conquer the 800-point mark.

The Greek stock market has not seen a streak of 14 northbound sessions in a row since 1997, or at least it hadn't until Wednesday, as news of the upcoming Covid-19 vaccine program - a light at the end of the tunnel for the economy too - sent shares higher again.

The benchmark at Athinon Avenue made it 13 sessions of growth in a row on Tuesday, climbing to a new nine-month high and starting to flirt with the 800-point level. Observers keep speaking of expected profit-taking, but buyers have made it clear they still haven't had their fill of local stocks yet.

Funds are evolving into the biggest property owners in Greece and are gradually trying to sell the assets that come under their ownership through the acquisition of large bad-loan packages.

Bank stocks almost single-handedly secured gains for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue at the start of the week, as other blue chips headed lower. The recent momentum continues unabated though, as also illustrated by the daily turnover level.

Greek banks achieved a remarkable reduction in their nonperforming exposures in the first nine months of the year, despite the tough conditions of Covid-19, showing their resilience before moves for the substantial streamlining of their financial balances scheduled up to the first half of 2021.

The Greek bourse benchmark climbed on Friday to highs unseen since late February after its 11th consecutive day of gains, which were quite handsome too, on the day the third-quarter growth data were issued. Likewise, the Greek benchmark 10-year bond yield reached a new low on Friday, at 0.626 percentage points.

The profit-taking recorded during Wednesday's bourse session was not enough to avert another day of growth for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue, which has risen to a new nine-month high thanks to the advance of banks and a handful of other blue chips.