ATHEX: Benchmark rises 1 percent on banks’ upgrade

The return of National Bank and Eurobank stocks from the MSCI Global Small-Cap Index to the MSCI Global Standard, which was announced late on Monday with effect from May 28, gave the Greek stock market a decent boost on Tuesday, making up for some recent losses.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 732.06 points, adding 1.02 percent to Monday’s 724.65 closing. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 1.08 percent to 1,897.02 points, while the mid-cap index contracted 0.35 percent.

The banks index jumped 3.56 percent, with Alpha earning 4.55 percent, Piraeus growing 3.49 percent, National climbing 3.33 percent and Eurobank advancing 2.47 percent.

Among non-bank blue chips, Viohalco augmented 3.8 percent, while Titan Cement slipped 2.16 percent, OPAP dropped 1.93 percent and Public Power Corporation declined 1.91 percent.

In total 50 stocks posted gains, 44 took losses and 26 closed unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 84.9 million euros, up from Monday’s 46.1 million.

In Nicosia the Cyprus Stock Exchange improved 0.19 percent to close at 70.13 points.