Terna Energy

The continued drop in sovereign bond yields and the growing effort to dress up portfolios before year-end saw the majority of stocks chalking up more gains on Friday, when trading surpassed the 100-million-euro mark for a second day. The banks index has now covered all of this year's losses.

As the year starts to draw to a close many funds have either stopped trading their securities or are engaging in some window dressing, boosting their performance. This serves to explain the growth seen on the local bourse on Friday, after progress in the third review had already been priced in.

The modest gains on low trading came as no surprise on Friday at the Greek bourse, and activity at Athinon Avenue looks set to remain shallow until next Thursday's Eurogroup meeting, where key decisions are expected - at least as far as Athens's much-needed bailout tranche is concerned.

Greek construction group GEK Terna and India's GMR Infrastructure hope to start building a new 850-million-euro airport on Crete early next year, a source from GEK Terna said on Wednesday.

Greece on Tuesday awarded the contract to the Greek-Indian joint venture, which was the sole bidder.

The public holidays in London and New York led to significantly slower trade at the start of the week at the Athens bourse, with blue chips sliding despite the majority of Greek stocks heading north.

A positive start to the week's final session in the Athens stock market gave way to a moderate decline in the majority of stocks later in the day, extending the week's losses for the benchmark, as trading volume remained disappointingly low for one more day.

Despite bank stocks' notable slide on Thursday, the benchmark of the Greek bourse only posted a small drop as most other stocks ended the day in positive territory after another session of very thin trading.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 683.57 points, shedding 0.24 percent from Wednesday's 685.19 points. It ended the week up 0.37 percent.

Trading on the Greek stock market has already slowed down ahead of Easter, with the benchmark closing just above the 680-point mark after a small decline on Tuesday, although the majority of stocks ended with gains. The picture is unikely to change much over the next few days barring any significant news.

Apart from the general air of uncertainty, little could be drawn from Friday's session at the Greek bourse as the benchmark barely budged and turnover dropped back below 30 million euros. The distance that remains between Athens and the country's creditors on a number of issues does not bode well for next week either.

The benchmark of the Greek bourse halted its four-session losing streak and rose by almost 1 percent on Wednesday. Its gains were curtailed in the closing auctions when many traders chose to cash in the day's gains, likely recalling how short-lived the recent bursts of optimism regarding the course of the bailout review have proved.