Index

The trading week ended with notable losses on Friday for the Greek bourse benchmark. The slide was extended in the last few minutes of the session as investors appeared to see little scope for gains at Athinon Avenue in the short term, which also explains the drop in trading volume.

The rise posted by most Greek stocks on Friday, driven by banks' major gains, swung the benchmark of the stock market from red into green for the week and to a 25-week high, ahead of Sunday's multi-bill vote in Parliament and Tuesday's crucial Eurogroup meeting.

It seems that many traders decided to reap their gains on Friday following a week of growth at the Greek bourse. Sellers focused on blue chips, while mid- and small-caps continued their rise and stocks were evenly split between winners and losers.

Greek stocks had something of a rocky session at the start of the week as the morning satisfaction following the vote in Parliament on the key tax and social security bills was succeeded by concerns over the outcome of Monday's Eurogroup. The positive signs from the Euro Working Group meeting eventually led to some gains for most stocks.

The third consecutive day of stock gains in the Greek bourse on Friday brought the weekly gains of the benchmark to 3.76 percent and those of the bank index to over 10 percent, as the government edged ever closer to fulfilling most of the demands of its creditors.

Stocks rallied at the Athens bourse on Thursday as the prospect of an agreement between Greece and its creditors drew nearer. The benchmark cleared 600 points and banks earned 7.13 percent.

A Morgan Stanley report that was published on Wednesday and forecast a swift end to the country's negotiations with its creditors gave a significant push to the local stock market upon its reopening after the Easter and May Day holidays. The report was particularly bullish on Greek bank stocks, whose index gained 3.01 percent on Wednesday.

April ended with small gains for the Greek bourse benchmark and the banks index despite the minor losses recorded on Thursday. There was more trading activity than than anticipated ahead of the Easter recess and rising stocks outnumbered the losers. The market will reopen on Wednesday, May 4.

An immediate impact was seen on the Greek stock market on Wednesday after the negotiations between Athens and its creditors hit a snag on Tuesday, inflicting significant losses, mainly on bank stocks, as well as the benchmark.

The Athens stock market had a day of high volatility on Tuesday on various rumors about the outcome of the all-important talks between the government and the country's creditors, with the benchmark eventually managing to inch up just shy of 600 points, having seen prices drop considerably earlier in the day.