Stocks rise before the downgrade
Greek stocks rebounded yesterday with significant gains across the board, but the market closed before the country’s downgrade by Standard & Poor’s was announced and the impact of the move is expected to be reflected on the bourse today. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,222.14 points yesterday, expanding by 2.40 percent from Tuesday’s close at 2,169.68 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index grew by 3.19 percent to end at 1,142.23 points. The biggest gains among blue chips were for Alpha Bank (up 6.88 percent), National Bank (6.16 percent) and ATEbank (5.71 percent). On the losing side were OPAP (down 3.04 percent) and Coca-Cola HBC (0.61 percent). Turnover amounted to 271.4 million euros, up from 237 million euros on Tuesday.
