ATHEX: Bourse rises over 5.6% in February

The Greek bourse benchmark bucked the global trend to enjoy gains, on increased turnover too, at the end of a month that saw the main index grow 5.64%. Friday’s price and turnover increase is mainly attributed to the MSCI index rebalancing, applying as of Monday.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 792.38 points, adding 0.63% to Thursday’s 787.43 points. On a weekly basis it advanced 1.40%.

The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 0.93% to close at 1,8792.53 points, but mid-caps contracted 1%.

The banks index earned 0.55%, with Alpha rising 2.94%, Piraeus fetching 1.99% and National improving 0.62%, as Eurobank dropped 1.56%.

Jumbo jumped 4.45%, Aegean kept flying higher (up 4.18%) and OPAP collected 2.96%, while Coca-Cola HBC decreased 3.42%.

In total 44 stocks reported gains, 51 suffered losses and 23 remained unchanged.

Turnover was the highest in the month, amounting to 85 million euros, up from Thursday’s €68.9 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange declined 0.55% to close at 57.41 points.