Index

The Brussels-London agreement over a trade deal and the start of the vaccination process gave the Greek stock market another boost too on Monday, with the benchmark easily clearing the 800-point bar to reach highs unseen in 10 months. As the year draws to a close, the losses observed in 2020 are gradually being reclaimed.

The Greek stock market closed for Christmas on Wednesday with further gains for most companies, on the strength of the growing prospects of an agreement between Brussels and London over Brexit, although the day's turnover was the lowest in the last 33 sessions. The bourse will next reopen on Monday.

Greek stocks recovered somewhat on Tuesday from Monday's slump due to the UK's troubles with the mutation of the coronavirus and the impasse in the Brexit talks, as the benchmark climbed back up to 780 points. However, the level of trading volume indicated that the minds of many were already occupied with the holidays.

The imported worries about the impact of the new strain of the coronavirus, along with the impasse in the Brexit deal discussions, took a heavy toll on the local stock market too on Monday, although the benchmark almost halved the losses it had suffered mid-session.

Though few admitted to it, there was much anticipation that Friday's triple-witching session at the Greek bourse would be the one to take the benchmark above the psychologically significant level of 800 points.

Thursday's bourse session was relatively quiet ahead of Friday's triple witching, with some selective profit-taking among blue chips. Stocks were split between winners and losers, with banks showing some significant fluctuations before settling for moderate losses.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market reverted to its northbound course on Wednesday, but once again it ducked back below the 800-point mark before the close, after testing the waters during the session. It will probably take one more final push for the index to reach that level, and with tomorrow seeing the last triple-witching session of the year, anything is possible.

The Greek bourse endured some pressure during Tuesday's trade, but the benchmark only suffered minimal losses, the majority of stocks secured gains and bank stocks continued to rise, although turnover did drop to its lowest level in the last 14 sessions.

Fresh hopes of a Brexit deal on Tuesday gave stocks across Europe a fresh push, with Greek stocks following suit to take the local market's benchmark back up to within striking distance of the 800-point level. Turnover has increased in the last few sessions, this being the last full trading week of the year.

The Greek stock market reversed its morning losses to end the day with some gains in the face of a mixed picture in European markets due to the Brexit-related turbulence. Foreign portfolios continue to take an interest in local stocks - after the net inflow of 14.7 million euros last month - with blue chips rebounding and trading volume topping €150 million.