Weekly gains of 3.25 pct for local bourse benchmark

The latest news from Skopje on the prospects of the name deal with Athens being ratified by lawmakers produced a late rally on the Greek stock market yesterday, sending the benchmark swinging from losses to gains despite a decline in bank stocks.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 635.70 points, adding 0.39 percent to Thursday’s 633.20 points. On a weekly basis it increased 3.25 percent.

The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 1.18 percent to 1,665.78 points and the banks’ index declined 1.40 percent as Deutsche Bank slashed its target prices for three of the Greek systemic lenders: National, which fell 3.39 percent yesterday, Alpha, which contracted 1.27 percent, and Piraeus, which slumped 2.59 percent.

In total 46 stocks showed gains, 38 suffered losses and 36 stayed put.

Turnover amounted to 42.7 million euros, down from Thursday’s 47.9 million.

In Nicosia the Cyprus Stock Exchange general index increased 0.58 percent to close at 65.51 points.