ATHEX: New 17-month high for bourse

European markets on Tuesday continued riding the wave of enthusiasm resulting from the first round of the French election on Sunday, which, combined with the resumption of the bailout review negotiations in Athens, gave Greek stocks even greater momentum. The benchmark ended a mere whisker away from the 700-point mark and the day's trading volume came to almost 80 million euros.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 697.32 points, a new 17-month high, adding 2.05 percent to Monday's 683.30 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index rose 1.98 percent to 1,863.24 points.

The banks index shot up 5.19 percent, boosted mainly by Eurobank (up 7.87 percent) and National (6.08 percent). Piraeus climbed 4 percent and Alpha grew 3.93 percent.

Among other blue chips Jumbo ascended 3.82 percent while Titan Cement declined 1.25 percent.

In total 67 stocks posted...