FTSE/Athex Large Cap

The banks index at Athinon Avenue on Thursday came off Wednesday's 14-month highs, but the closing auctions served to ensure the benchmark ended in the black despite losing stocks' clear lead over the climbers. The market appears to have already factored in a credit rating upgrade expected on Friday night by Standard & Poor's.

The Greek stock market benchmark edged marginally higher again on Thursday, but the increase in turnover did not translate into a significant advance for blue chips, as their index ended up in the red. Gains for small-caps, on the other hand, led to winners surpassing the losers at the end of the session.

The Greek bourse had another mixed day on Tuesday, with the market awaiting feedback from Brussels regarding the draft budget Athens has submitted, but in the end all indexes closed in the black thanks to a number of stocks posting firm gains.

The stock market's positive reaction to the European Commission's approval of the state's bad-loan reduction plan boosted bank stocks and helped the benchmark climb further during trading on Thursday at Athinon Avenue.

Investors appeared uninspired in what was a fairly quiet session at the Greek stock market on Thursday, with the few traders that could be bothered making select purchases. This took turnover back below the 50-million-euro mark while the benchmark kept to a very narrow range.

The Greek stock market shook off international concerns regarding oil prices and a US-Iran standoff and posted some healthy gains in the second half of the week's first session, on improved trading volume too.

Greek stocks recorded moderate losses on Friday at the end of a week of minor gains, with turnover only just topping 50 million euros. It followed a session of significant growth on Thursday, which on Friday led to some traders cashing in their earnings.

The benchmark of the Greek bourse jumped 20 points on Thursday after a sudden buying spree by traders that saw banks earn almost 4 percent. The favorable climate on foreign markets and the continuing decline of Greek bond yields appear to have convinced investors to buy back into local stocks again.

Fresh pressure on bank stocks inflicted losses on the benchmark of the Greek stock market on Tuesday, while trading volume remained sluggish.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 853.89 points, shedding 0.77 percent from Monday's 860.51 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.64 percent to end at 2,107.21 points.

The Greek stock market grew at the same pace on Wednesday as it did on Tuesday, building on the rise of PPC's stock and the further improvement of Greek bond positions. The benchmark appears ready to test the 900-point level after a very long time.