ATHEX: Bank stocks enjoy day of healthy gains

The stock market's positive reaction to the European Commission's approval of the state's bad-loan reduction plan boosted bank stocks and helped the benchmark climb further during trading on Thursday at Athinon Avenue.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 839.22 points, adding 0.90 percent to Wednesday's 831.72 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 1.01 percent to 2,087.11 points, while the mid-cap index eased 0.24 percent.

The banks index jumped 4.03 percent, as Alpha improved 5.45 percent, Piraeus earned 4.51 percent, National augmented 4.08 percent and Eurobank advanced 2.44 percent. Cenergy Holdings increased 3.46 percent, Jumbo rose 2.04 percent and Ellaktor collected 1.79 percent, as Fourlis Holdings gave up 2.48 percent and Sarantis decreased 1.53 percent.

In total 54 stocks recorded gains, 45 sustained losses and 20 remained...

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