ATHEX: Benchmark manages to edge forward

Greek stocks all but offset their Monday losses on Tuesday, in a moderate effort to follow in the footsteps of other eurozone markets. Banks outperformed in an otherwise quiet session, partly due to the holiday at the London Stock Exchange. With two and-a-half sessions left till the end of the year (Friday will be a half-session), the local benchmark appears unlikely to reconquer the 900-point mark.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 889.29 points, adding 0.38% to Monday’s 885.91 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 0.39%, ending at 2,137.72 points.

The banks index advanced 0.93%, as Alpha rose 1.61%, Piraeus collected 1%, National improved 0.69% and Eurobank rose 0.43%. OTE telecom grew 2.13%, Hellenic Petroleum augmented 1.97% and Quest Holdings earned 1.64%, while Coca-Cola HBC lost 2.62%.

In total 61 stocks secured gains, 36 suffered losses and 29 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 42.9 million euros, down from Monday’s €54.8 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.72% to close at 67.27 points.