The Greek bourse rose yesterday with across-the-board gains led by bank shares, heavily battered in recent trade.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) closed at 3,505.69 points, a significant 3.57 percent rise from Tuesday.

The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index grew by 4.40 percent to 1,935.28 points. Observers expect the 2,000-point barrier to be exceeded soon.

Banks received the bulk of investor interest, with National rising by 8.04 percent, Alpha gaining 6.80 percent, Piraeus growing by 5.88 percent, Marfin Popular Bank advancing by 4.22 percent, ATEbank going up by 4.09 percent and EFG Eurobank improving by 3.23 percent. The banks sectoral index rose by 5.64 percent.

Turnover reached 292.2 million euros.