ATHEX: Banks stocks lead bourse to rebound

Greek stocks staged a remarkable turnaround on Thursday, as they swapped losses for gains, boosted by the reversal of bank stocks’ fortunes. This was mainly seen as a reaction to the recent decline of prices from the January 4 peak, and was implemented on the highest daily turnover so far this year.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 754.25 points, adding 1.45% to Wednesday’s 743.49 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 1.67% to close at 1,793.37 points.

The banks index jumped 7.06% on a day of great volatility that saw upon National jump 10.99%, Alpha earn 9.18%, Eurobank climb 3.42% and Piraeus collect 3.37%.

ADMIE Holdings improved 2.49%, Hellenic Exchanges grabbed 2.43% and GEK Terna ascended 2.28%. Not all blue chips finished higher, as Aegean lost 3.45% and Jumbo eased 1.61%.

In total 75 posted gains, 31 suffered losses and 17 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 97.6 million euros, up from Wednesday’s €74.6 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 1.18% to close at 55.69 points.