ATHEX: Strong finish to the day for stocks

News of the further easing of the capital controls and the continuing decline of Greek bond yields on Thursday helped the benchmark at Athinon Avenue remain above the 700-point mark for a second day in a row and notch up moderate gains in the process.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 707.92 points, adding 0.86 percent to Wednesday’s 701.89 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 0.65 percent to 1,855.90 points.

The banks index jumped 3.07 percent on gains for Eurobank (4.07 percent), Alpha (3.93 percent) and National (2.29 percent). Piraeus closed without a change.

Following the announcement of its first-half turnover and profit growth, Piraeus Port Authority climbed 3.13 percent, followed by Motor Oil (up 2.40 percent), Titan Cement (2.31 percent) and Jumbo (2.05 percent). OPAP gaming company gave up 1.64 percent.

In total 48 stocks recorded gains, 43 suffered losses and 28 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 42.4 million euros, down from Wednesday’s 44 million.

In Nicosia the Cyprus Stock Exchange general index edged 0.17 percent lower to close at 72.56 points.