GEK Terna

The Greek stock market's banks index rebounded 10.32 percent on Thursday as traders expressed relief that the International Monetary Fund and Frankfurt had reached an agreement on the Greek credit sector.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 754.76 points, adding 2.46 percent to Wednesday's 736.64 points.

The International Monetary Fund's insistence that Greek banks undergo asset quality reviews inflicted losses of 5.61 percent on their sectoral index at the Athens bourse on Thursday, sending the benchmark to a three-month low.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index fell 2.35 percent to 790.97 points. The large-cap FTSE-26 index contracted 2.42 percent to 2,080.38 points.

Greece has agreed to sell its railways company to Italy's own state-owned operator for 45 million euros ($54 million) as part of its privatization drive.

Many traders have evidently left for their summer vacations, as turnover at the Greek bourse was particularly low on Friday, but those left behind at Athinon Avenue nudged the benchmark higher at the end of the week on a day of mild growth for most blue chips.

Aktor was hit on Thursday with a 38.5-million-euro fine - a record in Greece - and another nine construction companies were fined, for a total of 80.7 million euros, concluding the first stage of the infamous case of the "contractors' cartel" which, for a period of 23 years, from 1989 to 2012, were found to have been rigging the tenders for a series of public works, including those co-funded by

Four bidders are expected to show interest in Greece's tender to build a 1.45 billion euro ($1.72 billion) project to expand the Athens metro, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Greece's GEK Terna will bid as part of a joint venture with France's Vinci and Siemens, a spokesman for GEK Terna said.

The first half of the year has just ended with the main index of the Athens stock market adding a remarkable 27.98 percent in that period, thanks to five consecutive months of growth (unseen since late 2013) capped by a 6.26 percent rise in June.

Still in search of news offering clear direction, Athinon Avenue had another mixed session on Wednesday, with banks ceding some ground while the majority of stocks notched up gains, on improved turnover.

The modest gains on low trading came as no surprise on Friday at the Greek bourse, and activity at Athinon Avenue looks set to remain shallow until next Thursday's Eurogroup meeting, where key decisions are expected - at least as far as Athens's much-needed bailout tranche is concerned.

The sudden cancellation of Tuesday's Euro Working Group meeting and the international uncertainty on various fronts contributed to the losses registered at Athinon Avenue in Tuesday's trading session, although the low turnover indicated that some players are still waiting for a clearer picture before making any decisive moves.