Stocks rise on late buying
Late-session buying helped to lift Greek stocks almost 1 percent yesterday, as gains on European bourses partially offset weak sentiment due to the nation’s fiscal crisis. The Athens bourse’s benchmark general index added 0.91 percent to 1,961.86 points, close to the session highs. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index advanced 0.98 percent to 966.76 points. Banks outperformed, rising 1.21 percent on selective buying. National Bank fell 1.17 percent to 12.70 euros but peer Alpha jumped 5.77 percent to 6.60 euros. Piraeus Bank also chalked up gains, rising 2.67 percent to 6.15 euros. Betting company OPAP advanced 2.49 percent to 17.29 euros and Hellenic Exchanges added 1.60 percent to 6.36 euros. Turnover reached 170.2 million euros versus 141 million in the previous session.
