FTSE

Losses accelerated at the Greek stock market on Wednesday as buyers were far outnumbered by buyers and the benchmark closed at the day's low. Bank and energy stocks lost much of the ground gained in recent days.

Bank stocks continued their advance on Tuesday, while investor attention was focused on the benchmark bond issue, but non-banking stocks dragged the main index lower at the start of this four-day trading week at Athinon Avenue.

The rally of bank stocks at Athinon Avenue on Friday added to the week's gains for the benchmark of the market, while mid-caps had a day of moderate gains given that foreign investors appear to be largely ignoring them.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 683.46 points, adding 2.04% to Thursday's 669.79 points. On a weekly basis it advanced 4.73%.

Traders had appeared set to cash in recent stock gains at Athinon Avenue on Thursday, but the European Central Bank's announcement that assistance for eurozone member-states would be boosted contained the drop in prices, while the mid-cap index went up.

Bank stocks were back in the driving seat at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday, taking the Greek bourse benchmark to a new three-month high - i.e. its highest since the coronavirus epidemic began in Greece. The 700-point milestone seems to be growing closer, while investors appear to have plenty of disposable cash.

The various channels of liquidity that central banks the world over are offering to markets have boosted prices on the majority of international bourses. Athinon Avenue happily rode the buyers' wave on Tuesday, with interest focusing almost exclusively on blue chips.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market now has the 700-point level in its sights after its sixth day of gains in seven sessions. Construction blue chips led the way this time.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 658.35 points, adding 0.88% to Friday's 652.58 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 0.52% to 1,579.70 points, while mid-caps contracted 0.25%.

The upcoming rebalancing of the MSCI Greek stock indexes and profit taking after five consecutive days of gains led to losses at Athinon Avenue on Friday, with a huge daily turnover. Notably 70% of trading volume took placing during the closing auctions. The benchmark of the Athens stock market ended May with a monthly advance of 3.87%, though banks lost 2.94%.

Early profit-taking at Athinon Avenue gave way to a fresh wave of buying later on Thursday - although banks appeared to have fallen out of favor - taking the benchmark higher for the fifth session in a row. The market is now confidently looking toward more growth, boosted also by the significant increase in daily trading volumes.

The European Commission announcements concerning grants and loans for member-states adding up to 750 million euros gave Greek stocks a major boost on Wednesday, in line with most other European bourses. The fourth consecutive day of gains on the highest turnover of the last two-and-a-half months took the benchmark over 8.5% higher compared to last Thursday's closing.