Lenders head north, keep index afloat

Banks and Coca-Cola HBC helped to keep the Greek bourse?s benchmark index above the 700-point level on Thursday despite a mid-cap decline.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended the day at 707.60 points, expanding by 0.52 percent from Wednesday?s closing level of 703.20 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index added 0.84 percent to close at 270.26 points while the mid-cap index shed 0.69 percent.

The banks sectoral index rebounded after 12 sessions of losses, with Alpha adding 5.12 percent, while Coke bottler CCHBC gained 2.17 percent.

In total, 67 stocks registered gains, 66 posted losses and 20 remained unchanged.

Turnover continued to shrink, totaling just 22.9 million euros, compared to 29.3 million on Wednesday.