ATHEX: Banks propel benchmark to 25-week high
The rise posted by most Greek stocks on Friday, driven by banks’ major gains, swung the benchmark of the stock market from red into green for the week and to a 25-week high, ahead of Sunday’s multi-bill vote in Parliament and Tuesday’s crucial Eurogroup meeting.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 639.48 points, adding 2.76 percent to Thursday’s 622.28 points. It advanced for the third week in a row, by 2.69 percent. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 3.87 percent to end at 182.18 points.
Banks rallied 5.50 percent thanks to the prospect of the completion of the bailout review that should allow them to obtain cheap liquidity from the European Central Bank. Alpha outperformed, growing 7.14 percent, Eurobank rose 5.77 percent, National climbed 4.04 percent and Piraeus improved 3.16 percent.
Ellaktor went up 5.38 percent and OTE telecom garnered 5.27 percent, while Titan Cement (down 1.06 percent) and Grivalia Properties (0.81 percent) were the only blue chips to go down.
In total 69 stocks secured gains, 35 sustained losses and 24 remained unchanged.
Turnover was the highest of the last eight sessions, amounting to 141.4 million euros, up from Thursday’s 43.4 million.
In Nicosia the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange advanced 0.53 percent to close at 67.86 points.
