GEK Terna

The huge investor interest in the Greek 15-year bond issued on Tuesday distracted traders from the Athens stock market, which saw early gains turn into losses toward the end of the session. After two days of contraction, stock prices are likely to rebound from Wednesday.

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.

Many investors opted to sit out Thursday's trading session at Athinon Avenue ahead of Friday night's verdict by Fitch on Greece's rating and outlook, with sellers putting an end to the benchmark's seven-session rising streak.

The European Union's lending arm, the European Investment Bank (EIB), signed a 180-million-euro ($199.69 million) loan deal with Greece to help it pay its share for a new airport on Crete, the country's biggest island.

Greece has been upgrading its airport facilities to handle an increasing number of tourists visiting the country, one of the world's top holiday destinations.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market continued its course toward the 1,000-point mark with a sixth consecutive session of moderate gains on Tuesday, largely thanks to the closing auctions, which offset all the morning losses and split stocks down the middle between winners and losers.

The positive views on the Greek economy and its banks by various foreign firms, including rating agency DBRS Morningstar, continue to feed traders' buying interest, which is also trickling down to mid- and small-caps. This carried the benchmark through to another day of growth on Wednesday, on higher trading volume too thanks to a number of packages that changed hands.

The Greek bourse on Tuesday recovered the ground it had lost on Monday but for the time being it appears unable to secure the boost required to reach the psychologically important level of 1,000 points. Turnover also improved.

The Hellenic Gaming Commission (EEEP) has unanimously accepted the conclusions of the committee for the tender of the Elliniko casino concerning the rejection of the bid by Hard Rock International (HRI).

Reliable sources say the decision was made at last Friday's EEEP board meeting. This decision rules HRI out of the running for the casino license at the old Athens airport plot.

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.