Sarantis

In June 1985, a small family cheese factory just outside Trikala, on the road to Pyli, took its first steps, with just five employees. Stergios Sarantis, his wife Zoe, their two sons, Takis and Michalis and a worker, who worked even on Easter day so as not to lose the milk of the day.

This was the whole workforce of the TYRAS (Cheese-making firm Brothers Sarantis).

The General Index of the Stock Exchange has been moving upwards since the beginning of the session, exceeding the levels of 920 points.

At 11.00 the General Price Index stood at 921.27 points, marking an increase of 0.75%.

The value of the transactions amounts to 4.05 million euros.

56 stocks are up, 13 are down and 12 are flat.

The fourth consecutive day of gains at the Athens bourse gave the the benchmark its biggest advance as it climbed close to the 800-point mark, in line with most other markets that were open on Monday. Turnover topped 50 million euros despite the fact that major markets such as those of the US, Hong Kong and China were closed due to holidays.

The stock market's reaction after three days of losses proved half-hearted on Tuesday, as the early recovery was contained later on, with most bank stocks posting losses. Some traders will have decided to save some of their liquidity for the new 10-year bond issue, which Greece announced on Tuesday halfway through the trading session.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market narrowly managed to avoid dropping below the 800-point mark on Monday as investors indulged in profit taking following the recent gains enjoyed by most stocks. All but two blue chips suffered losses, led by banks, in line with most other European markets.

Athinon Avenue eased off Monday's 11-month highs on Tuesday, with the benchmark dropping just over 1% on lower trading volume than on Monday. Banks headed south, but energy stocks mostly headed higher again. Observers consider this cashing in of recent gains quite predictable.

The imported worries about the impact of the new strain of the coronavirus, along with the impasse in the Brexit deal discussions, took a heavy toll on the local stock market too on Monday, although the benchmark almost halved the losses it had suffered mid-session.

Thursday's bourse session was relatively quiet ahead of Friday's triple witching, with some selective profit-taking among blue chips. Stocks were split between winners and losers, with banks showing some significant fluctuations before settling for moderate losses.

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 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.