ATHEX: Bourse index up 44 percent since January

October was another month of growth for the main index of the Greek bourse, leading to gains of 1.63 percent. Almost half of that growth came through Thursday's advance, which was once again led by bank stocks. Meager though the monthly growth may seem, it has taken the benchmark's gains since the start of the year to almost 44 percent.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 882.57 points, adding 0.78 percent to Wednesday's 875.73 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 0.79 percent to 2,189.02 points.

The banks index rose 1.38 percent, as Piraeus earned 2.09 percent, Alpha climbed 1.65 percent, Eurobank collected 1.06 percent and National increased 1.03 percent. Public Power Corporation jumped 3.59 percent, ADMIE improved 1.66 percent, Mytilineos augmented 1.55 percent and Hellenic Petroleum grabbed 1.43 percent.

In total 59 stocks posted...