Viohalco

The payment of stock dividends at Athinon Avenue, the negative climate on international markets and the increasing devaluation of the market (through the ongoing Folli Follie saga and the loss of buying interest in mid- and small-caps), led to significant losses for the majority of Greek stocks on Thursday.

The Athens bourse spent almost the entire session on Wednesday showing benchmark and blue-chip gains, only for sellers to reverse the trend in the closing auctions, wiping out the advances. Nevertheless, growing stocks outnumbered decliners.

The Greek stock market tried to distinguish itself from its European peers, concerned about a trade war across the Atlantic, but eventually ended Tuesday with losses for the majority of its stocks. while traders are still keeping an eye on Thursday's Eurogroup.

Bank stocks recovered on Monday from a sharp drop last Friday, with their advance gathering pace as the week's first session progressed, helped also by the decline of Greek bond yields. Low turnover is explained by anticipation for Thursday's crucial Eurogroup.

Unfazed by the domestic turmoil over the controversial agreement between Athens and Skopje and the no-confidence motion against the government, investors sent local stocks higher for a third day on Thursday, with turnover matching Wednesday's.

After an initial drop banks enjoyed robust gains on Wednesday, leading the benchmark of the Greek stock market higher. The trigger for the second consecutive day of gains was the prospect of an agreement at next week's Eurogroup.

Fresh concerns over Italy weighed on most European stock markets on Wednesday, leading to losses of over 1 percent for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue, on particularly low turnover. The ongoing saga concerning Folli Follie is not helping the local market at all, and a prosecutor launched an investigation into the case on Wednesday.

A combination of imported jitters - owing to the political uncertainty in Rome - and domestic concerns produced yet another day of losses on the local stock market on Tuesday. Session after session, the benchmark is recording new five-and-a-half-month lows, and the increased turnover confirms that this trend is likely to continue in the short term.

Confidence in the Greek economy's recovery appears to be wearing thin again these days, as a meeting on Thursday of the Washington Group failed to reach an agreement on the Greek debt measures, bond yields remained high, Folli Follie's slump accelerated afresh and bank stocks took another tumble, leading the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) benchmark to a five-and-a-half-month low.

Banks and Folli Follie inflicted fresh losses on the main index at the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) on Tuesday as the pressure continued on Greek bond prices and on international markets, taking the benchmark below the 800-point mark.