Stocks rise, end week up 8.8 pct
Greek stocks rose yesterday, bringing gains for the first week of March to almost 9 percent, as rising European markets and news of Greece’s 10-year bond auction being met with strong demand boosted sentiment. The Athens bourse’s benchmark index gained 1.66 percent to 2,028.06 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index advanced 2.17 percent to 1,040.04 points, while banks added 3.10 percent. National Bank outperformed, rising 4.39 percent to 15.45 euros and peer Alpha moved ahead 3.24 percent to 7.33 percent. Bank of Cyprus rose 3.45 percent to 4.80 euros and Piraeus Bank ended at 6.68 euros, up 2.77 percent. Turnover fell to 159.2 million euros from 201 million in the previous session.
