Bank rally pulls bourse higher
Greek stocks surged ahead yesterday on news that eurozone ministers had agreed on a joint 45-billion-euro rescue plan for the country in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund, which boosted buying in banks. The Athens bourse’s benchmark general index added 3.51 percent to 2,061.04 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index rose by 3.99 percent to 1,024.58 points. Banks jumped 5.65 percent, bringing gains in the sector to just over 13 percent in the last two sessions. National Bank gained 5.23 percent to 14.50 euros and peer Piraeus rose 9.32 percent to 6.45 euros. Eurobank leapt 11.29 percent to 6.80 euros. Turnover reached 347.3 million euros, versus 243 million in the previous session.
