ATHEX: Benchmark recoups all of 2016 losses

The Greek bourse passed a major milestone on Wednesday, covering all the losses it had incurred since the start of the year, thanks to the small rise in the benchmark at the close and despite the drops registered by the blue chip and banks indices.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 632.51 points, adding 0.21 percent to Tuesday's 631.21 points. On January 1 it stood at 631.35 points.

The large-cap FTSE 25 index contracted 0.06 percent to 1,715.33 points, while mid-caps jumped 1.71 percent.

Reports about a possible convention of Greece's creditors made the market rather nervous in the morning, with the banks index dropping up to 1.89 percent before recovering most of its losses to close at minus 0.51 percent. Eurobank was down 0.97 percent and Piraeus fell 0.95 percent, while National rose 0.44 percent.

There was a mixed picture among the...