Blue chip

Athinon Avenue started the week's final session with a considerable drop in what has been the second straight week of decline for its benchmark, and saw turnover shrink further on Friday. However, it still managed to cover most of the ground lost over the course of the day to close with contained losses thanks to some of its blue chips.

A short trading week of just three days has started at the Greek stock market with a moderate decline for the benchmark and the majority of stocks, though a number of blue chips responded to pressure and rebounded. Turnover also showed signs of significant recovery on Tuesday, after one more long weekend and ahead of another.

The Greek stock market managed on Tuesday to hold on to some of its mid-session gains, with the benchmark closing near the decade-high recorded on January 15. Stocks showed a mixed picture, with the gainers narrowly outnumbering decliners, the blue chip index ending with growth and banks posting a small drop.

A number of blue chips, including banks, attracted significant buying interest at Athinon Avenue on Thursday, with the benchmark rebounding after two days of decline and closing near the day's highs. Still, the rest of the board saw little action, with considerably lower trading volume.

Friday's mixed session at Athinon Avenue had the blue chip index close in the red, while the majority of stocks managed to drag the benchmark back into the black with the help of a handful of energy blue chips.

The Athens Stock Exchange once again posted very slight gains, but at least the general index reversed four weeks of losses, posting a nearly 3% rise for the week.

The main index gained 0.30% Friday, closing at 1,299.76 points. Turnover was quite low, at €59.6 million. Blue chips gained 0.21% and small-caps 0.43%, while banks lost 0.98%.

The Athens Stock Exchange rose slightly on Thursday but could not scramble above 1,300 points, a level it has found difficult to sustain.

Investors made selective moves in some stocks and turnover was relatively low for a second session in a row.

The general index closed at 1,295.91 points, a 0.17% gain. Blue chips declined 0.11%, mid-caps gained 0.73% and banks slid 0.44%.

The stock market could not hold on to early gains Wednesday after deteriorating Purchase Managers' Index (PMI) numbers soured the mood in European markets.

The general index closed at 1,293.73 points, down 0.52%, on a low turnover of €71.7 million. Blue chips dropped 0.61%, mid-caps 0.31% and banks 0.15%

A favorable climate in European markets and investor interest in banks and several blue chips helped the Athens Stock Exchange return to the 1,300-point level on Tuesday.

Despite some selling towards the end, the general index gained 1.18% to close at 1,300.47 points on turnover of €92.9 million. Blue chips gained 1.34%, mid-caps 0.96% and banks 1.77%.

The aggressive selling of banks and other blue chips initially led the Athens stock market to lose as much as 1.8%. In the end, the general index ended up at 1,278.87 points, limiting its losses to 0.62%.

Blue chips lost 0.64%, mid-caps 0.50% and banks 1.19%, after being down as much as 3%.