Motor Oil

Greece has received nine non-binding bids for the sale of a 65 percent stake in its dominant gas supplier DEPA Commercial, its privatisation agency said on Monday.

Investors who have expressed an interest in the stake include Shell Gas, Vitol Holding, Power Globe, MET Holding and C.G. Gas Limited of Greece's Copelouzos group, the agency said in a statement.

The Greek bourse benchmark is steadily approaching the 900-point mark after its advance on Tuesday on considerably increased turnover, mainly thanks to the further decline of Greek bond yields ahead of anticipated credit rating upgrades.

Stocks in Athens resisted pressures and continued their upward trajectory on Monday, with banks getting the credit for grabbing investors' attention and leading the benchmark higher, although turnover remained below the 50-million-euro mark. Traders appear to be pricing in a likely Greek credit rating upgrade this Friday by Standard & Poor's.

The treasury bill issue that recorded a negative yield for the first time in Greece's history dominated trading at the local stock market on Wednesday, with investors beginning to anticipate a credit rating upgrade for Greece coming sooner rather than later.

The prospect of Greece reopening its 10-year bond issued in March appeared to have seized the attention of most traders on the Greek stock market on Monday, with observers getting the distinct impression they were saving their cash for the reissue that is expected to fetch 1.5 billion euros on Tuesday.

Stocks continued to decline on Tuesday at Athinon Avenue, as pressure grew, mainly on bank stocks, before easing during the closing auctions.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 861.50 points, shedding 0.80 percent from Monday's 868.42 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index contracted 0.79 percent to 2,139.95 points, while small-caps increased 0.22 percent.

The blow dealt by the bankruptcy of UK tour operator Thomas Cook to the Greek economy was too big for traders at the local stock market to ignore on Monday, leading to significant losses for many stocks, albeit on rather low turnover.

Unimpressed by the announcements of European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, traders on the Greek bourse put fresh pressure on stock prices on Thursday, with banks ending the rising course observed over the previous couple of days, in line with most other European markets. The local market appears unhappy with the various announcements about share capital increases.

The market's positive reaction to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' announcements at the weekend in Thessaloniki lasted for just a few minutes at Athinon Avenue on Monday, as traders chose to sell given that they had no fresh reasons for buying. Trading volume slumped to low levels again.

The rise recorded by Greek bank stocks on Wednesday was largely offset by the decline of most non-bank blue chips, leaving the benchmark of the Athens bourse virtually unchanged and the stock board split between winners and losers. However, market observers were quite encouraged by the improvement in trading volume.