Titan Cement

A stock rally in the latter half of Thursday's session in Athens saw the benchmark swing back to gains, after a continuation of Wednesday's losses in the morning. Banks enjoyed robust growth, leading trading volume to its highest level this week.

The release of the provisional figures for the state budget took the wind out of the Greek stock market's sails on Monday, moderating prices and clipping the trading volume well below the 50-million-euro mark, partly due to Moody's decision not to issue a review of its credit rating for Greece last Friday.

After a session of ups and downs on the Greek stock market on Wednesday, the benchmark and the blue chip indices ended the day with minor losses, while the majority of stocks posted moderate gains.

The return to normalcy for international markets after the recent turbulence has yet to be reflected on the Greek bourse. Blue chips edged higher for one more day on Tuesday, but there is no sign of the momentum that carried upward the stock market in May and June, hence declining stocks outnumbered winners.

Bank stocks at the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) continued heading south at the end of the week, extending the weekly losses of the benchmark and taking it close to the 800-point mark, while also illustrating that the market was unimpressed by the hype over French President Emmanuel Macron's visit.

The signs during the second day of August trading at the Greek bourse were very encouraging, despite the drop in turnover, as the reduced number of investors still searching for some midsummer profits at Athinon Avenue appear convinced things are looking up in the market after a period of decline in previous weeks.

The Greek bourse had already priced in the issue of a five-year bond, so there was little reaction on the part of investors on Monday. A brief uptick in trade during the closing auctions proved enough to push the benchmark into positive territory and reverse losses for the banks index.

A rise in bank stocks helped buoy the benchmark and the majority of stocks on the local bourse on Monday, but trading action continued its decline.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 843.83 points, a new 26-month high, adding 0.76 percent to Friday's 837.43 points. The large-cap FTSE-26 index expanded 0.58 percent to 2,182.42 points.

European markets on Tuesday continued riding the wave of enthusiasm resulting from the first round of the French election on Sunday, which, combined with the resumption of the bailout review negotiations in Athens, gave Greek stocks even greater momentum. The benchmark ended a mere whisker away from the 700-point mark and the day's trading volume came to almost 80 million euros.

The Greek bourse benchmark climbed to a new 17-month high on Wednesday - albeit on low trading volume - with investors apparently positioning themselves ahead of next month's likely conclusion of the bailout review, when they will be able to cash in their gains of the last few weeks.