ATHEX: Benchmark advances to 10-week high

Bank stocks pushed the local benchmark higher, to a level unseen in over two-and-a-half months on Thursday, ahead of Friday’s third-quarter results issue by Piraeus Bank and the Greek credit rating verdict from Moody’s, which Morgan Stanley expects to be an upgrade. Nevertheless, the turnover wasn’t very convincing, and the majority of stocks headed south.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 923.07 points, adding 0.57% to Wednesday’s 917.87 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index also expanded 0.57%, to end at 2,224.80 points.

Τhe banks index improved 1.49%, as Alpha earned 2.02%, Piraeus collected 1.66%, Eurobank augmented 1.45% and National grew 0.67%.

OTE telecom climbed 2.26%, Public Power Corporation rebounded 2.18% and Aegean Airlines rose 1.80%, while Hellenic Petroleum fell 1.26% and Jumbo parted with 1.18%.

In total 47 stocks saw gains, 61 posted losses and 24 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 69.3 million euros, down from Wednesday’s €78.9 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.65% to 67.73 points.