Index

The seventh day of losses in the last eight sessions at the Athens bourse was the most dramatic, with banks shedding more than 8 percent and the benchmark only just managing to stay above the 700-point mark on Thursday, as confidence in the Greek economy and its banking sector in particular continues to ebb.

The start of the bond swap process on Wednesday only gave local stocks a temporary boost, as the majority racked up more losses. Trading volume was the highest in more than a month.

During the course of Tuesday's trading session in Athens it appeared that Greek stocks might stage a recovery after the benchmark's downward spiral of recent days, but the rise proved unsustainable as the main index closed with just a fraction of the gains it had posted earlier in the day and trading volume left a lot to be desired.

The Greek stock market's banks index slumped to its lowest point in a year on Monday, sliding 4.19 percent on prolonged uncertainty regarding the launch of foreclosures, the handling of bad-loan portfolios and the possibility of yet another recapitalization. This, along with Coca-Cola HBC's drop, led the benchmark lower for a sixth consecutive day.

Greek stocks continued to slide for a fifth consecutive session on Friday (the first drop of such a long duration in 17 months), with the banks index slumping to its lowest point in eight months and blue chip Lamda Development also falling for a fifth straight session on concerns over Elliniko.

Greek bank stocks broke their losing streak on Thursday - but only just - in a trading session of mixed fortunes which ended with stocks split down the middle between winners and losers.

Led by banks, the benchmark of the Greek stock market continued to fall on Wednesday, as investor concerns heighten on a variety of issues, hence the increased trading activity that saw the biggest turnover of the last five sessions.

Bank stocks dragged the Greek benchmark lower on Tuesday due to concerns over new European Central Bank rules regarding bad loans, new financial reporting standards and delays in property auctions due to the abstention of notaries.

Trade was subdued in the week's first session at the Athens bourse, given the benchmark's repeated failures last week to clear the 770-point mark and the slashing of bank stocks' target prices by Bank of America on Monday.

After a volatile trading session in Athens on Friday, the main index of the Greek stock market closed up slightly while the banks index ended in the red. Stocks were split between winners and losers as the market failed to sustain the growth momentum seen earlier in the week.