ATHEX: Banks lead bourse to more gains

The Greek stock market returned from the Easter break with more appetite for growth, as on Tuesday its benchmark climbed for the 11th session in a row. Even if Standard & Poor's cannot be taken for granted to raise Greece's credit rating this Friday to investment grade, the mere upgrading of the Greek economy's outlook to "positive" would suffice to boost the stock market's prospects, a possibility that many traders appear to be pricing in.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) General Index closed at 1,120.29 points, adding 1.59% to last Thursday's 1,102.79 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 1.70% to end up at 2,711.04 points.

The banks index led the increase with a 4.04% jump: Piraeus soared 6.10%, Eurobank grabbed 4.82%, Alpha grew 3.39% and National augmented 2.49%.

Viohalco advanced 3.58% and Aegean Airlines rose 3.24%, while Motor Oil parted with 1.96%...