Sarantis

Wednesday's session at the Greek stock market bore a great resemblance to Tuesday's, only with significantly greater gains upon closing after the late rally that banks staged in the closing auctions. Once again the benchmark closed higher and the majority of stocks suffered losses, given also the drop recorded by mid-caps. The 1,100-point mark is now within reach for the main index.

The banking sector shook off foreign and domestic concerns - related to the decline of US lender First Republic and the promise by main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras to nationalize National Bank of Greece if he comes to power - and swung to gains at the end of Wednesday's bourse session, leaving the benchmark with moderate gains.

Thursday's bourse session at Athinon Avenue proved to be the second in a row with losses for most stocks, although in the closing auctions the main index contained its decline and the banks index actually swung into gains. Turnover dropped to the lowest level in almost two weeks, but Friday's session is expected to make up for it.

After 11 sessions of growth out of 11, the benchmark of the Greek stock markets settled on Wednesday for a moderate decline that left it exactly at 1,111.11 points. 

A day before the end of the year's first quarter, the Greek stock market regained some more of the ground lost in previous days and appears to be regaining some of its January and February momentum - which for some can be attributed to Q1 window dressing.

The Goldman Sachs comment on Wednesday afternoon that the Greek economy will stay strong despite any political turmoil, and even regain investment grade in three weeks' time, helped the Greek stock market secure gains on Wednesday, even if it had struggled to keep pace with the rest of its eurozone peers. Moody's positive outlook of the local credit sector also helped.

Traders at Athinon Avenue reacted with surprise to the largely predictable announcement of the general election on May 21, swinging the main index of the Greek stock market to losses that exceeded 1% by the end of Tuesday's session.

The late decline mainly by bank stocks led the benchmark of the Greek bourse to moderate losses on Wednesday, although the majority of stocks posted gains. The low turnover revealed that many investors chose to sit the session out in anticipation of the decisions by the central banks of the US and Britain.

The Greek stock market opened the week with a 2.1% decline in Monday's first few minutes, as a result of the shocking news of Credit Suisse's demise and takeover by fellow Swiss lender UBS, but stocks gradually began to recover and swung back into the black as the session progressed to close with moderate gains in their majority.

Friday's session at the Greek bourse proved to be a bull trap, as after the halfway point the early gains swung to losses and the majority of stocks closed the week with a significant drop - in line with the fall of the Credit Suisse stock in Zurich - in what was the second straight week of prices shrinking at Athinon Avenue.