ATHEX: Bourse enjoys rise in prices and turnover

Buyers are discerning opportunities among the Greek stock market’s blue chips and increasing in their boldness, leading the benchmark to a third straight day of gains on Wednesday, with trading volume clearing 60 million euros.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 680.10 points, adding 1.40 percent to Tuesday’s 670.69 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 1.92 percent to end at 201.54 points, although the small-cap index dropped 2.36 percent, which explains why stocks were almost evenly split between gainers and losers.

The total gains of the main index so far this week have come to 6.1 percent, while the bank index has risen 28.8 percent in the last four sessions.

National Bank kept climbing, posting a rise of 7.39 percent, narrowly beating the 7.37 percent growth recorded by Public Power Corporation. Hellenic Exchanges advanced 6.43 percent, while Piraeus Bank declined 3.57 percent and Terna Energy gave up 2.44 percent.

In total 45 stocks registered gains, 43 reported losses and 13 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 61.5 million euros, up from Tuesday’s 41.1 million.