Unlike Monday, bank stocks at the Greek bourse led the charge higher on Tuesday and recorded a session that was constantly positive for blue chips, while the benchmark closed on the day’s high, growing more than 1%. A number of reports, including that of the Bank of Greece, insist that the local banking sector remains robust, turning more traders into believers. The small decline in oil rates also helped.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,229.19 points, adding 1.10% to Monday’s 2,205.04 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 1.19%, ending at 5,649.56 points.
The banks index advanced 1.91%, with National growing 2.81%, Bank of Cyprus earning 1.95%, Piraeus grabbing 1.82%, Alpha collecting 1.74% and Eurobank rising 1.25%. ElvalHalcor jumped 7.67%, Sarantis obtained 3.52% and Metlen improved 1.84%, though Aktor Holdings parted with 0.55%.
In total 76 stocks secured gains, 30 endured losses and 16 remained unchanged.
Turnover amounted to €223.3 million, up from Monday’s €198.8 million.
In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.36% to close at 284.13 points.