ATHEX: Alpha Bank leads bourse higher

Alpha, the Greek stock market's best performing bank in the last 12 months, led blue chips and the bourse benchmark to a third day of gains on Tuesday, although the second bailout review's eagerly awaited conclusion did not get any closer.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 633.32 points, adding 0.66 percent to Monday's 629.14 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 0.47 percent to end at 1,689.10 points and mid-caps jumped 1.55 percent.

The banks index increased 1.12 percent on the strength of gains posted by Alpha and, to a lesser degree, Eurobank, which rose 3.55 percent and 0.85 percent respectively. National Bank gave up 1.29 percent and Piraeus conceded 1.09 percent.

Lamda Development outperformed, with gains of 5.61 percent, and Hellenic Exchanges climbed 2.41 percent. OPAP declined 1.21 percent.

In total 66 stocks ended higher,...

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