Folli Follie

Representatives of the Folli Follie Group and Ernst & Young will meet again on Friday with the Capital Market Commission to hear the confirmation of the stock market watchdog's demand for an independent probe by E&Y into the blue chip company. The meeting will determine the range and timetable of the inspection.

The boost provided by Chinese stakeholder Fosun to the stock of Folli Follie, buying 750,000 shares, gave the Athens Exchange an early push on Wednesday, but most of the gains evaporated during the course of the session, leaving the benchmark at the day's low upon closing.

Greece's securities regulator said on Monday it will ask luxury goods maker Folli Follie to have its 2017 consolidated accounts scrutinized by an independent auditing firm after an equity fund report sent its shares crashing last week.

The Folli Follie limit-down weighed heavily on the benchmark at Athinon Avenue on Friday, bringing a week of losses to a fitting close.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 823.89 points, shedding 1.84 percent from Thursday's 839.34 points. On a weekly basis it gave up 2.99 percent.

Greek luxury goods maker Folli Follie said a report issued by Quintessential Capital Management (QCM) on the company was "defamatory" and damaging its interests.

The stock fell 30 percent on the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday after QCM issued a report which said that the company has overstated the number of points of sales it operated worldwide.

Following the trend set by global markets since late on Tuesday, buyers in Athens took advantage of the benchmark's three-day decline on Wedneday, allowing Greek stocks to recover some lost ground. However, trading volume was considerably lower than in the last few sessions.

Wednesday's sixth consecutive session of gains for the benchmark of the Athens stock market took it to a new three-month high, on respectable turnover and significant gains for the majority of blue chips, including banks.

The benchmark of the Greek bourse posted a decline for a third session in a row on Wednesday despite the slight rise of the banks index and the healthy gains of small-caps. The local market apparently does not share the optimism of debt traders who sent bond and treasury-bill yields even lower on Wednesday.

Stock prices at Athinon Avenue remained on a rising course on Wednesday, albeit at a slower pace than Tuesday. Banks again led the way in growth and trading activity, with the four systemic lenders accounting for 57 percent of turnover.

The sixth consecutive week of losses ended on the Greek bourse yesterday with a mixed performance on Friday. The benchmark had not seen six straight weeks of decline in three years.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 745.55 points, adding 0.10 percent to Thursday's 744.80 points. On a weekly basis it slumped 1.33 percent.