ATHEX: Stocks soar as gov’t yields some ground
Two waves of optimism, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon, sent Greek stocks soaring at the bourse on Athinon Avenue on Monday as the SYRIZA-led government appeared to soften its stance toward concessions in negotiations with the country’s creditors. The additional liquidity supplied to local lenders by the European Central Bank gave an even greater boost to the banks index, which climbed 20.79 percent.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) closed at 749.17 points, adding 9 percent to Friday’s 687.33 points. The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 index rose 8.63 percent to close at 226.15 points.
Observers concluded that even if they have to shoulder additional tax burdens, Greek companies will be far better off if the country stays in the eurozone than otherwise.
The third-biggest daily rise within 2015 was driven by the bank stocks, which recovered a significant amount of recent losses, as Alpha climbed 23.79 percent, Piraeus grew 21.17 percent, National advanced 20.45 percent and Eurobank expanded 18.70 percent.
In total 87 stocks registered gains, 24 reported losses and 12 remained unchanged.
Turnover amounted to 134.1 million euros, down from last Friday’s 143.2 million.
