ATHEX: Stock benchmark rises 2.6 pct

The September triple witching and the restructuring of the FTSE indexes saw most Greek stocks posting healthy gains on Friday on a daily turnover of more than 100 million euros, leading to a weekly rise for the benchmark.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 698.74 points, adding 2.60 percent to Thursday’s 681.03 points. On a weekly basis it advanced 2.50 percent.

The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 2.36 percent to 1,832.11 points, while the small-cap index contracted 0.58 percent.

The banks index rebounded 3.42 percent, as Piraeus soared 6.74 percent, Eurobank jumped 3.70 percent, Alpha climbed 3.40 percent and National increased 1.17 percent.

In total 64 stocks posted gains, 32 took losses and 30 stayed put.

Turnover amounted to 104.4 million euros, three times Thursday’s 34.2 million.

In Nicosia the Cyprus Stock Exchange general index contracted 0.92 percent to close at 72.11 points.