Bourse posts healthy rise on high turnover

Following their unconvincing rise on Tuesday, Greek stocks rallied on Wednesday on much higher turnover, surprising even the most optimistic of traders amid the ongoing uncertainty regarding negotiations between the government and the country’s creditors.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 973.12 points, growing by a significant 3.39 percent from Tuesday’s 941.17 points. The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX-25 index expanded by 3.23 percent, ending at 317.81 points.

Energy stocks outperformed as Public Power Corporation showed gains of 8.66 percent, followed by Terna Energy with a 7.25 percent rise.

Bank stocks bucked the trend owing to the government’s refusal to make changes to the terms of the recapitalization process. Alpha gave up 5.42 percent and Eurobank shed 4.04 percent.

In total 107 stocks registered gains, 43 sustained losses and 21 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 76 million euros, the highest of the last 14 sessions, up from Tuesday’s 58 million. Almost 58 percent of the turnover concerned just four stocks: OTE telecom, OPAP, PPC and Coca-Cola HBC.