FTSE/Athex Large Cap

The benchmark of the Greek bourse came off last Friday's five-year highs on Monday as the market appeared to be keeping some cash aside for the upcoming 15-year Greek government bond issue. International pressure on stocks from the Chinese coronavirus played a part too, while the Greek economy's upgrade by Fitch had already been priced in last week.

Despite the slight drop of the banks index on Wednesday, the benchmark and the majority of stocks on the Greek bourse continued their rise, led by mid-caps, albeit at a slower pace than in previous days. This has taken the main index to another five-year record high after the seventh straight day of gains.

The fifth consecutive session of moderate growth for the Greek bourse saw the benchmark advance to a new five-year high, as it climbed to levels unseen since December 2014.

Friday's bourse session was much like Thursday's, with a mild increase for the majority of stocks as the benchmark climbed to levels unseen since February 2015. This sedate growth is slowly convincing observers that the main index may well capture the 1,000-point level in the coming months.

After hovering around Friday's closing level for most of the trading session on Monday, the stock benchmark at Athinon Avenue slipped below 920 points in the last hour-and-a-half, with blue chips such as banks experiencing selling action in the late afternoon.

The banks index at Athinon Avenue staged a 2.74 percent rebound on Thursday, leading the benchmark of the Greek bourse back up to 926 points on turnover of more than 100 million euros.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 926.06 points, adding 1.30 percent to Wednesday's 914.17 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 1.22 percent to 2,308.07 points.

Most stocks recorded moderate gains or got a bit of a breather following last Friday's decline in the first trading session after the long weekend, but it appears clear that any disruption will be more likely to come from developments abroad than domestic ones this year.

The new year started with another 58-month high for the Greek stock market benchmark on Thursday, showing that the local bourse's growth momentum remains strong even without the support of credit sector stocks.

With only one short session left till the end of the year - as stock trading will cease two hours early on Tuesday - the benchmark at Athinon Avenue remained on Monday close to the near-five-year highs registered on Friday.

A predictably quiet day on the Greek bourse on Friday ended at the highest point of the last 58 months as buyers proved quite active in the last hour-and-a-half of trading.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 920.54 points, adding 0.88 percent to Monday's 912.52 points, the highest since February 2015. On a weekly basis it advanced 3.19 percent.