ATHEX: Benchmark advances to 8-week high
The fresh rise posted by Greek stocks on Wednesday, mainly during the closing auctions, confirmed investors’ renewed faith in the local market. Bank stocks enjoyed healthy gains, taking the benchmark to a new eight-week high. However, the decline of trading volume is a worrying sign.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 658.42 points, adding 1.02% to Tuesday’s 651.77 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 1.03% to close at 1,565.74 points and the banks index grew 3.31%.
Aegean rose 9.16%, Motor Oil improved 7.61%, National advanced 6.09% and Viohalco grabbed 5.53%.
The session was dominated by announcements about the MSCI index shake-up, with Motor Oil dropping from the MSCI Standard Greece Index to the Small-Cap Index without being replaced by Mytilineos, as had been expected. Hellenic Petroleum has joined the small-cap index, replacing Hellenic Exchanges.
In total 63 stocks saw gains, 27 sustained losses and 28 stayed put. Turnover amounted to 68 million euros, down from Tuesday’s €93.8 million.
In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 2.38% to 44.73 points.
