Index

Local stocks took some heavy losses on Wednesday, with banks suffering the most, as market confidence in Greece continued to evaporate, a fact also evident in the growth of bond yields. Investors were keen to walk away from Athinon Avenue, as shown by the increased turnover.

Unimpressed by the International Monetary Fund's statement on Greece, investors in Greek stocks shifted away from the usually dominant bank sector on Tuesday to focus on other blue chips and secure modest gains for the benchmark on improved turnover.

The gloomy outlook regarding the second bailout review resulted in stocks heading south in thin trade on Monday, with particularly low market expectations about the International Monetary Fund's board meeting that started long after the bell rang at Athinon Avenue.

Traders in Athens on Friday appeared to be holding back to see whether Greece's bailout review will be accelerated or postponed until later this year (at the expense of the local economy). Trading volume was less than 30 million euros and no significant moves or changes were observed.

Hopes cultivated by reports that a solution will be found between Athens and its creditors gave local stocks a small push on Thursday.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 623.06 points, adding 0.65 percent to Wednesday's 619.05 points.

The climate in manufacturing slumped to a new 16-month low in January, as the Purchasing Managers Index compiled by Markit showed on Wednesday a decline to 46.6 points from 49.3 points in December 2016.

The prolonged recession in the sector - a result of the strong decline in output and new orders - has led companies to reduce employee numbers.

After three sessions with total benchmark losses of 7.4 percent, the Greek stock market headed north on Wednesday, although this was due to buyers taking advantage of the drop in prices rather than any significant fiscal or corporate developments. The rise in trading volume was quite encouraging.

Buyers expecting to see Greek stock prices rise on Tuesday after two sessions of major losses were sorely disappointed. The benchmark and the majority of stocks ended lower, while Greek bond prices also dropped.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 611.75 points, shedding 0.38 percent from Monday's 614.08 points. On a monthly basis it gave up 4.95 percent.

The selling spree that began at the Greek stock exchange on Friday, due to fears generated by Thursday's Eurogroup, continued on Monday, boosted by Moody's description of the delay in the bailout review as a "credit negative" event for Greek banks.

Turkey's economic confidence regressed to 85.7 in January with a 3.9 percent decrease compared to the previous month, data from the Turkish Statistics Institute showed on Jan. 30. 

The decrease in the economic confidence index mainly stemmed from the decline in services, real sector, construction and retail trade confidence indices.