Water supply and sanitation in Greece

The rise of Coca-Cola HBC's stock by 1.95 percent on Friday contained the Greek benchmark's losses somewhat and kept the blue chip index above water at the end of a week of small gains for the local market.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 923.63 points, shedding 0.26 percent from Thursday's 926.06 points. On a weekly basis it improved 0.38 percent.

Despite the draconian austerity adopted during an eight-year bailout program to keep the country's debt-laden economy afloat, the quality of tap water reaching Greek households remains one of the best in the world, officials told Xinhua in recent interviews on the occasion of of the World Water Day on Friday.

Several districts of the Greek capital were without water supply since Wednesday morning, Athens's public water company EYDAP announced on its website.

According to the company, areas of Filothei, Papagou, Kallithea, Iraklio, Voula, Aspropyrgos, Kolonos and Akademia Platonos were affected by the disruption.

Water services will be restored at around 3 p.m, the company said. 

The decline on the Greek bourse that began last Friday continued on Wednesday while turnover remained low. Athinon Avenue appears to be heading in a whole other direction to the rest of the eurozone, which saw markets recover after the agreement between Brussels and Rome on the Italian budget.

Greek stocks slipped on Monday for the fifth session in a row, suggesting that the previous Monday's major gains were a mere blip. Turnover was particularly low, pointing to the unlikelihood of a year-end rally, given that there are only 12 sessions left to go in 2018.

Turnover on the Greek stock market was particularly low on Thursday owing to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. The benchmark, the blue chip index and banks registered marginal losses although the majority of stocks headed higher.

The continued recovery of bank stocks proved enough to keep the benchmark afloat in what was otherwise a day of losses for the majority of stocks at the start of the week. Monday's session picked up from where Friday's had left off, with many blue chips and most mid-caps ending in the red, although trading volume was significantly lower.

The water in Thessaloniki is "perfectly safe" and has not been affected by an instance of oil contamination detected last January, the city's Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYATH) said on Thursday in response to a newspaper report on an ongoing judicial investigation into the incident.

After Monday's respite, the benchmark of the Greek bourse tumbled back below the 700-point level on Tuesday, mainly due to the near-7 percent decline of the banks index, which continued to suffer pressure.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market dipped to a new 17-month low on Wednesday as pressure continued not only on bank stocks but also across the blue chip board as well as on bond prices. A balancing session is probably due.