ATHEX: Banks’ jump sends bourse to 880 pts

The Alpha Bank stock rebound served as the driver of Monday’s price recovery for the majority of listed companies at Athinon Avenue, following last Friday’s steep decline. Though not as high in gains and trading volume, Monday’s advance, led by the bank sector in general, showed some healthy reaction, with the benchmark looking up again toward the 900-point mark.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 880.26 points, adding 1.46% to Friday’s 867.56 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 1.78% to close at 2,122.58 points.

The banks index soared 6.36%, as Alpha jumped 10.79% to exactly 1 euro, Eurobank collected 6.33%, National earned 4.17% and Piraeus improved 3.22%.

Aegean Airlines rose 2.29%, Hellenic Exchanges advanced 2.06%, Viohalco grew 1.48% and Public Power Corporation climbed 1.47%, as Jumbo parted with 1.47%.

In total 68 stocks reported gains, 32 sustained losses and 24 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to €96.1 million, down from last Friday’s €199.3 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.89% to 63.41 points.