Economy of Greece

By Ilias Bellos

A largely forgotten Greek financial derivative has risen by up to 475 percent since June 2012, becoming a leading measure of growing confidence in the local economy.

Rising stocks outnumbered those heading south on the local bourse on Thursday while the benchmark ended up virtually unchanged as early losses were offset by gains, mostly secured by outperforming mid-caps, as well as the OPAP gaming company, which is expected to profit on the World Cup that just started in Brazil.

Declines on most European markets and Tuesday’s International Monetary Fund report demanding measures to plug Greece’s fiscal gap for 2015-16 resulted in significant losses for most stocks during most of Wednesday’s bourse session, although certain blue chips reacted in the last hour of trading and contained the benchmark drop to 1.18 percent.

By Katerina Sokou

Poul Thomsen, the head of the International Monetary Fund’s mission to Greece, expressed on Tuesday confidence that the Greek economy will begin to recover this year, as the impressive fiscal adjustment and market confidence are creating «a virtuous circle."

By Vangelis Mandravelis

Illegal gambling activities in Greece probably make more money than the country’s legal market, the president of the sector’s watchdog, Evgenios Giannakopoulos, has admitted.

After Tuesday’s correction, the Greek bourse reverted to a northbound course on Wednesday, with the buying gathering pace as the day went along in anticipation of news from Thursday’s European Central Bank board meeting that may decide on a rate cut.

The benchmark’s seven-session rising streak came to an end at the Athens bourse on Thursday, as the news of Alpha Bank’s better-than-expected first-quarter results was tempered by the departure of the lender’s head, Yiannis Costopoulos.

Greek gambling monopoly OPAP, one of Europe’s biggest betting firms, said it expected revenue to grow by a double-digit percentage this year, thanks to the planned launch of new games.

Gambling monopoly OPAP posted higher-than-expected quarterly profit due to a rise in sports betting and cost-cutting.

The company said first-quarter net profit rose 27.6 percent to 49.7 million euros, beating the average forecast of seven analysts in a Reuters poll of 44.5 million euros.

The local bourse’s sixth consecutive day of gains, made on the strength of the balanced election results and a return to normality, took the benchmark above the 1,200-point level on Tuesday, with improved first-quarter results also playing a role. The Greek market had not seen six straight days of growth in over three months.