Athens Stock Exchange

The decline in local stock prices which started in the first half of the month appears to be gathering pace, with the benchmark losing another 2 percent on Monday. Banks were unable to halt their slide as their future remains uncertain given the pressure for an asset review.

Worries about local banks possibly having to undergo asset quality reviews - as the International Monetary Fund is again insisting - as well as the September triple witching, sent stocks tumbling and turnover soaring in the last session of the week at the Greek stock exchange.

The International Monetary Fund's insistence that Greek banks undergo asset quality reviews inflicted losses of 5.61 percent on their sectoral index at the Athens bourse on Thursday, sending the benchmark to a three-month low.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index fell 2.35 percent to 790.97 points. The large-cap FTSE-26 index contracted 2.42 percent to 2,080.38 points.

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.

Monday was another mixed day for the Greek bourse. Stocks were split between winners and losers, the benchmark had some moderate gains but the banks' index was virtually unchanged, and mid-caps conceded some ground. The drop in turnover compared with three declining sessions last week shows that a likely return of sellers is on the way.

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 Greek bourse had a mixed picture on Thursday - in anticipation of any concrete results from the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron - with stocks split down the middle between winners and losers. However the trading volume was significantly improved.

Bank stock losses led the Athens benchmark into negative territory on Wednesday, even though the majority of stocks ended higher, and it appears that lingering doubts over the solvency of the local credit sector will not go away until a decisive answer is given, one way or another.

A late rally by bank stocks on the Athens bourse broke the credit sector's three-session slide on Tuesday, while most stocks registered moderate gains at the end of trade.