GEK Terna

Greek stocks lost all the gains registered earlier in the day and then some, completing a sixth consecutive southbound session for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue on Tuesday.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market posted its biggest daily rise in two-and-a-half years on Monday, riding on a wave of international relief resulting from the truce in the Sino-American trade war while dismissing any concern about the rebalancing of the MSCI index.

Oversold bank stocks staged a remarkable rebound in Thursday's bourse session, with Alpha and National announcing a return to profit in July-September at the end of the trading day. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) was also buoyed by rallying international markets, the drop in Greek bond yields and a favorable report by Moody's on the Bank of Greece proposal for slashing bad loans.

Jitters over the upcoming rebalancing of the MSCI index and various domestic and international uncertainties were still in evidence on the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) on Wednesday. The picture that emerged pointed to quite negative medium-term prospects for Greek stocks should traders' fears of instability abroad materialize.

Turnover on the Greek stock market was particularly low on Thursday owing to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. The benchmark, the blue chip index and banks registered marginal losses although the majority of stocks headed higher.

As the market awaits the formal announcement of the new composition of the MSCI stock indexes on Tuesday, pressure on most blue chips - especially those in the credit sector - led the benchmark at Athinon Avenue lower on Monday, with turnover climbing above 50 million euros.

Banks and the majority of stocks ended the session on Thursday with losses, but the benchmark managed to close virtually unchanged thanks to support from a handful of blue chips.

A decision by the European Court of Justice banning companies convicted of cartel practices from undertaking state contracts for at least three years has dealt a major blow to the local public works market.

Closing auctions on the Greek stock market helped minimize the rather sizable losses sustained by the benchmark at the start of the trading week on Monday, with bank stocks remaining the focus of sellers due to speculation concerning the exclusion of some of them from the MSCI Standard index for emerging markets.

Daily turnover on the Greek stock market was the lowest in eight sessions on Tuesday, while both the benchmark and the blue chip index lost ground in line with the downbeat mood on stock markets abroad.