ATHEX: S&P upgrade gives credit stocks a boost

The one-notch upgrading of Greece's credit rating by Standard & Poor's late last Friday translated into gains only for bank stocks, as most other listed companies saw their prices head lower in Tuesday's bourse session.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 873.40 points, adding 0.13 percent to Friday's 872.30 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 0.18 percent to 2,162.44 points, while the mid-cap index contracted 0.68 percent.

The banks index grew 1.89 percent, as Eurobank earned 2.26 percent, Alpha advanced 2.22 percent and National collected 2.07 percent, while Piraeus slipped 0.26 percent. Coca-Cola HBC dropped 2.10 percent.

In total 40 stock posted gains, 62 suffered losses and 24 stayed put.
Turnover amounted to 76.5 million euros, up from last Friday's 40 million.

In Nicosia the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange...