Blue chip

The Greek stock market brought to a close on Tuesday its best year in the 21st century, as its benchmark posted annual gains of 49.47 percent - a performance unseen since the 1999 stock bubble. This historic record came in the year after the completion of the third bailout program and with a change in government in early July.

SOFIA (Bulgaria), August 8 (SeeNews) - A 5.54% rise in the share price of Bulgaria's First Investment Bank (Fibank) [BUL:5F4] helped the blue-chip SOFIX index of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange end the trading session on Wednesday in green territory, bourse data shows.

The earlier-than-expected upgrade of Greece's credit rating by Standard & Poor's did not impress traders at the Athens stock exchange, who appeared to be more concerned about instability both within and outside the country. The majority of Greek stocks posted fresh losses at the end of Tuesday's session, while many blue chips closed at the day's low.

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.

Most Greek stocks gave up ground on Thursday, but the benchmark edged higher again on gains by power-packing blue chips including ADMIE, Mytilineos and Alpha Bank.

Greek stocks had another mixed session on Monday as the majority of blue chips headed south while the rest of the market went the other way, on significantly reduced turnover.

A late rally of bank stocks and a few other blue chips offset the losses the benchmark had incurred during most of Wednesday's session to end in the green, although losers outnumbered climbers. Reports of convergence between government ministers and creditors' representatives in Brussels played a major part in that late surge.

Stocks on Thursday did not build on Wednesday's gains, as investors went back to waiting for news from the bailout review.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 656.04 points, shedding 0.02 percent from Wednesday's 656.17 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 0.11 percent to 1,752.86 points.

Blue chips on the Greek stock exchange all but covered the losses sustained in Monday's session on Tuesday, as, after a declining start, the benchmark rebounded to close above 610 points.

After Tuesday's healthy gains, it was back to the old routine for Greek stocks on Wednesday, with a mixed picture among blue chips and trading volume slipping back below the 30-million-euro level.