Market rebound driven by interest in banks
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) registered a significant rebound yesterday, following two days of losses (totaling 2.42 percent), with a 1.35 percent rise in the general index that grew from 4,604.07 points on Wednesday to 4,666.36 points. Interest focused on bank stocks and the rise in most European markets helped to push the index higher, with the FTSE/ASE 20 blue chip index rising by 1.43 percent to close at 2,501.75 points. The FTSE/ASE 40 index of mid-caps rose by 0.87 percent while smallcaps posted gains of 1.16 percent. The FTSE/Athex International closed at 6,641.48 points, 1.34 percent higher than Wednesday. With Intralot being the sole exception (down 0.78 percent), all blue chips reaped gains yesterday, led by Viohalco (up 3.82 percent), Alpha Bank (3.44 percent), OPAP (2.70 percent), EFG Eurobank (2.07 percent), National Bank (1.67 percent) and Motor Oil (1.48 percent). All 17 sectoral indices headed northward, with industrial products outperforming (up 3.10 percent). Healthcare stocks went up by 1.85 percent, the travel and entertainment index gained 1.73 percent, banks rose by 1.61 percent, insurance stocks saw gains of 1.41 percent and the technology index closed 1.29 percent higher. Turnover totaled 311.490 million, including 49.775 million in prearranged trades.
