Bank rally takes weekly rise to 3.5 pct

The bank stock rally in the second half of Friday’s session in Athens overturned the morning losses and saw the benchmark end the last trading day of the pre-election period on a high.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 697.57 points, adding 0.76 percent to Thursday’s 692.30 points. On a weekly basis it advanced 3.52 percent.

The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded by 1.02 percent to 204.80 points.

The banks index rose 7.5 percent, with Alpha growing 14.29 percent, National increasing 5.17 percent and Eurobank swelling 5 percent. Hellenic Exchanges added 4.66 percent, while Ellaktor fell 2.52 percent and EYDAP dropped 2.38 percent.

In total 49 stocks registered gains, 43 posted losses and 12 closed unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 44.2 million euros, down from Thursday’s 45 million.