Banks, CCHBC surge ahead of Q3 reports
Resurgent banks and Coca-Cola HBC led Greek stocks to a strong rebound above 5,200 points yesterday, in line with bourses abroad. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 5,208.46 points, with a gain of 1.73 percent. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index was up 2.02 percent, the FTSE/ATHEX 40 mid-cap index rose 0.83 percent and the FTSE/ATHEX 80 small-cap index advanced 1.43 percent. The FTSE/ATHEX International gained 1.84 percent. Coca-Cola HBC jumped 5 percent to -42.10, its largest one-day rally in five months, on expectations the Greek bottler will announce very good third-quarter financial results next month, and ahead of a stock split due to a one-for-two bonus share issue. National Bank climbed 4.35 percent, Piraeus Bank advanced 3.51 percent as Citigroup raised its target price from -32 to -34, and Eurobank surged 3.44 percent after Citigroup upped its price target from -29.20 to -30. In both cases, Citigroup retained a «buy» recommendation. By contrast, OPAP slumped 1.21 percent, Public Power Corporation shed 0.79 percent and Intralot lost 0.14 percent. Turnover rose to -406.33 million, of which -54.8 million was in block trades. The total capitalization of the ATHEX came to -199.35 billion.
