Marfin Investment Group

The Greek bourse had an uneventful start to the week, as its benchmark posted negligible losses, the blue chip index remained unchanged and turnover was almost half the amount seen in Friday's trade.

Growing concerns about additional capital requirements for banks weighed on the Greek bourse on Tuesday, as early gains were swiftly wiped out in a field day for sellers. Banks took the worst beating, with their index down 3.28 percent at the end of the day.

September started with marginal losses at the Greek bourse and the fourth-lowest daily turnover this year as investors continued to stay away due to the lack of a clear fiscal landscape ahead of talks between Athens and its international creditors. The revision of the economic contraction during the second quarter by ELSTAT did not help matters either.

July proved to be the fourth consecutive month of decline for the Greek bourse as its benchmark shed 3.73 percent following Thursday’s dip, which was in line with most international stock markets on account of the Argentinean selective default. International sanctions on Russia have also played their part.

The Greek bourse reverted to a downward course on Tuesday, with the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ending at 1,195.96 points after shedding 1.43 percent from Monday’s 1,213.31 points. The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 index contracted 1.56 percent to close at 384.20 points.

Stocks recovered on Monday some of the ground lost last week, as the benchmark index closed on the day’s high to add more than 2 percent, on a remarkably low transaction volume. The closer we get to August, the more the trading activity will decline on days with few major news developments.

The Standard & Poor’s report on Greek banks inflicted fresh losses on their respective stocks and sealed the benchmark’s end-of-week fate, as it posted the biggest weekly drop of 2014, giving up 7.35 percent from last Friday.

The Greek bourse ended its slide on Thursday, but only just, as the morning gains evaporated while the benchmark ended virtually unchanged. Concerns over the possibility of a snap election in the fall have returned, while worries about banks’ capital requirements are refusing to go away.

The sudden appearance of buyers at the end of Wednesday’s local bourse session turned things around for the benchmark, granting it gains of nearly 1 percent and putting an end to five consecutive days of decline.

The Greek bourse benchmark saw a fifth consecutive session of losses on Tuesday, with turnover remaining at low levels, as buyers had the upper hand in the morning before conceding ground to sellers in the afternoon.