Stocks surge ahead 5 pct
Greek stocks soared more than 5 percent yesterday, rising for a second straight session, as successful debt auctions in Lisbon and Athens helped pave the way for a rebound from oversold levels. The Athens bourse’s benchmark general index added 5.02 percent to 1,438.03 points, after Tuesday’s 1.09 percent rise. A successful sale of 10-year bonds by Portugal, after Greece’s auction of T-bills was met by strong demand on Tuesday, boosted investor sentiment. Gains in key European markets were more moderate late yesterday, ranging from 0.55 percent to 2.12 percent on London’s FTSE, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index advanced 5.95 percent to 673.86 points. National Bank jumped 7.88 percent to 6.30 euros and Bank of Cyprus ended at 2.66 euros, up 14.66 percent. Turnover reached 130.7 million euros versus 113 million in the previous session.
