Euphoria leads stock index to gains of 3.5 pct

Banks led the benchmark to considerable gains in the Greek bourse’s first session this week, as the government’s announced intention to table the draft law for banks’ share capital increases soon, with Eurobank being the main point of interest, added to the euphoria imported from foreign markets.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,365.09 points, a new 34-month high, adding 3.50 percent to Friday’s 1,318.94 points.

The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 expanded 3.81 percent to 440.42 points.

Other factors such as the upcoming rebalancing of the FTSE Europe index and the so-called triple witching hour at the end of this week also played a role, as they also will through Friday.

All blue chips headed north on Monday, led by Titan Cement (up 7.83 percent), National Bank (6.56 percent), GEK Terna (6.44 percent) and Eurobank Properties (6.03 percent).

Eurobank, which is not a blue chip, jumped 6.39 percent.

In total, 103 stocks recorded gains, 41 suffered losses and 18 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 110.2 million euros, up from last Friday’s 84 million.