ATHEX: Strong end to a weak week for local stocks

Greek stocks staged a mini rally on Friday with the benchmark recording its biggest one-day rise in the last month-and-a-half, partly due to expectations that Moody's will raise the country's sovereign credit rating and partly thanks to the growth trend on European markets.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 589.20 points, adding 2.20 percent to Thursday's 576.58 points. On a weekly basis it grew 2.08 percent.

The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 2.49 percent to end at 1,562.04 points, while small-caps contracted 1.06 percent.

Banks greatly benefited from the margin reduction for their stocks on the Greek derivatives market, to apply from Monday, leading the sector's index to gains of 4.64 percent on Friday. National jumped 6.88 percent, Alpha rose 4.43 percent and Piraeus Bank climbed 4.29 percent.

Among other large-caps, GEK Terna rose 6...