Greek stocks rebounded strongly after recent heavy losses yesterday, aided by an upbeat mood in other European bourses. Analysts, however, said the reaction could be described as only of a technical character for the time being. Mid- and small-caps recorded the largest gains, spurred by several bullish heavyweight blue chips.

The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index was up 1.42 percent at 4,406.55 points.

The blue chip FTSE/ASE 20 index gained 1.58 percent, the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 advanced 2.17 percent and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 ended 2.34 percent higher.

Bank of Cyprus led blue chips, surging 5.14 percent on news that Piraeus Bank had agreed to sell its minority stake in it to Marfin Popular Bank at –11.24 a share. Postal Savings Bank climbed 4.37 percent, Intralot ascended 3.29 percent higher, National Bank added 3.25 percent, Hellenic Technodomiki gained 2.91 percent, Coca-Cola HBC was up 2.18 percent and Piraeus Bank ended up 1.95 percent.

By contrast, Emporiki Bank, Cosmote, Folli-Follie, Titan, OPAP and Hellenic Petroleum headed south.

All sectoral indices but two ended in positive territory, led by insurance, which closed 4.20 percent up.

Turnover soared to –954.45 million, of which –503.58 million was accounted for by Bank of Cyprus.