ATHEX: Index keeps small share of gains

The Greek stock market lost most of its early gains on Monday but still managed to end the day in the black thanks to a strong performance by the banking sector. Rising stocks were more than double the number of losers, but the big drop in trading volume at the start of the week does not bode well for the next few days.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 830.02 points, adding 0.25% to Friday’s 827.96 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 0.15%, ending at 1,993.80 points.

The banks index advanced 1.50%, as National collected 4.09%, Alpha climbed 0.97%, Eurobank improved 0.72% and Piraeus earned 0.39%.

Among the other blue chips, Quest Holdings augmented 2.79%, Viohalco grew 2.21% and Piraeus Port Authority bagged 1.82%, while Jumbo lost 2.61% and EYDAP parted with 2.20%.

In total 68 stocks secured gains, 29 suffered losses and 23 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 62.9 million euros, down from last Friday’s €103.4 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 2.17% to close at 65.09 points.