Percentage

Most of the Greek bourse's morning gains had evaporated by the end of Friday's session, with the benchmark covering only a quarter of the 10.61 percent loss it had suffered on Thursday. The comparatively low turnover indicates that many sellers were taking a break and will likely return next week.

Turkey's unemployment rate in December 2019 stood at 13.7 percent, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) revealed on March 10.

The figure was marginally up from the same month of the previous year, rising 0.2 percentage point, TÜİK said in a statement.

The Greek bourse went back into a downward spiral on Thursday, as domestic and international concerns over the novel coronavirus epidemic spread faster than the disease itself.

Athinon Avenue experienced a mixed day on Wednesday following a number of sessions during which trends were clear, with the benchmark showing moderate gains as the banks index lost some ground.

The Turkish Treasury borrowed 6.32 billion Turkish Liras ($1.04 billion) from domestic markets this week, the Treasury and Finance Ministry announced.

Some 3.26 billion Turkish liras ($532.05 million) in two-year fixed coupon rate Treasury bills - reopen, semiannually, fifth issue - were sold in an auction on Feb. 24.

The benchmark at Athinon Avenue proved unable to hold on to most of the gains it had recorded during the day on Wednesday, in line with the majority of other eurozone bourses. It presented a mixed picture at the end of the session, with rising stocks narrowly edging out the losers on a day when the bond market dominated investor interest.

Turkey's unemployment stood at 13.3. percent in November 2019, the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) said on Feb. 10.

November's figures showed a 0.1 percentage point fall compared to October 2019, when unemployment stood at 13.4 percent.

The rate for employment dropped by 0.9 percentage points and hit 45.6 percent, almost 28.17 million people, the data showed. 

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.

Friday's bourse session was much like Thursday's, with a mild increase for the majority of stocks as the benchmark climbed to levels unseen since February 2015. This sedate growth is slowly convincing observers that the main index may well capture the 1,000-point level in the coming months.