ATHEX: Late rally on favorable estimates

The Goldman Sachs comment on Wednesday afternoon that the Greek economy will stay strong despite any political turmoil, and even regain investment grade in three weeks’ time, helped the Greek stock market secure gains on Wednesday, even if it had struggled to keep pace with the rest of its eurozone peers. Moody’s positive outlook of the local credit sector also helped.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,030.65 points, adding 0.70% to Tuesday’s 1,023.44 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 0.81% to end up at 2,496.07 points.

The banks index grew 0.66%, with Piraeus collecting 2.24%, Alpha rising 1.57% and National earning 1.24%, while Eurobank contracted 1.10%.

OTE telecom outperformed, grabbing 3.33%, Terna Energy jumped 3.10% and Aegean Airlines improved 1.52%, as Motor Oil gave up 2.45% and Sarantis parted with 2.40%

In total 59 stocks posted gains, 38 reported losses and 23 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 73.2 million euros, up from Tuesday’s €71.5 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange decreased 1.30% to 104.05 points.