ATHEX: Blue chips see main index bottom out in the afternoon

A handful of blue chips carried the benchmark at the Greek bourse higher on Tuesday, a defensive move that boosted stock prices from lows that dragged the main index down to near 610 points.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 629.84 points, adding 1.78 percent to Monday’s 618.84-point closing. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.20 percent to 1,633.63 points.

The banks index jumped 4.81 percent, with Eurobank soaring 11.37 percent, Alpha rising 3.53 percent and National growing 1.83 percent. Piraeus closed without change.

Public Power Corporation improved 5.08 percent, Hellenic Petroleum increased 4.90 percent and Coca-Cola HBC was the only blue chip to drop, by 0.04 percent.

In total 54 stocks enjoyed gains, 37 sustained losses and 29 ended unchanged. Turnover matched that of Monday, at 32.1 million euros.

In Nicosia the Cyprus Stock Exchange general index advanced 1.32 percent to close at 67.40 points.