Economic indicators

Bank stocks came under fresh pressure on Thursday, with the benchmark yielding more ground at the close despite spending some time in the black during the day. Global pessimism regarding the economy and the World Health Organization's statement that the coronavirus may never go away weighed on most markets, with Athinon Avenue proving to be no exception.

The Greek bourse saw another mixed session with limited action on Tuesday, as turnover showed some improvement and the benchmark stayed afloat without managing to get a firm grip on the 600-point level it had reached during the day.

Tuesday's stock gains were wiped out in Wednesday's bourse session, with investors pricing in the European Commission forecasts that take Greece's recession estimates for this year close to 10 percent.

Traders' reaction on Tuesday to two sessions of significant losses for stocks was encouraging for the benchmark and blue chips, but rather disappointing in terms of turnover. The market appears to be waiting for Moody's verdict on the economy on Friday.

Bank stocks continued their advance at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday, carrying the market's benchmark to a new two-month high, although the low turnover pointed to traders waiting to see how the pandemic will evolve. Stocks were split down the middle between winners and losers.

The pendulum at Athinon Avenue swung deep into the red on Wednesday, along with most other eurozone market, while traders had one eye fixed on the auction of the new seven-year bond. Thursday's session will be the last before the Easter holidays.

Tuesday's trading session at Athinon Avenue, which closed without any news from the Eurogroup meeting, continued along Monday's growth path, taking the stock market's gains to 4.3 billion euros in capitalization terms from the start of the week as the benchmark has rebounded by almost 12.4 percent in total. This has been accompanied by a fresh decline in bond yields.

The flexibility that the credit sector has secured from the European Central Bank and the reserved optimism that the restriction measures in Greece are bearing fruit, amid more handout pledges by the government, saw the local stock market head higher on Monday in a relatively calm environment for global securities.

The Greek bourse went back into a downward spiral on Thursday, as domestic and international concerns over the novel coronavirus epidemic spread faster than the disease itself.

Greek stocks on Tuesday reclaimed some of the ground lost in Monday's 8.3 percent slump, on very encouraging trading volume, with banks jumping by over 5 percent to cover almost half of the previous day's losses.