MPB news leads to big gains for local stocks
The Greek bourse had been on a southbound course on Wednesday until reports of Russian lender VTB?s interest in Marfin Popular Bank broke, changing the market picture and securing major gains for banks.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended the session at 743.59 points, adding 2.26 percent to Tuesday?s closing figure of 727.14 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index grew by 4.10 percent to end at 305.21 points.
Marfin Popular and Marfin Investment Group led the leaders with gains of 267.27 percent and 16.90 percent respectively, followed by Hellenic Postbank, which added 9.59 percent, and Bank of Cyprus with a 9.55 percent increase. Motor Oil posted the biggest losses, amounting to 1.85 percent.
In total, 101 stocks registered gains, 55 recorded losses and 20 remained unchanged.
Turnover amounted to 68.7 million euros, up from Tuesday?s 50.3 million.
