ATHEX: German article boosts local stock prices

A Der Spiegel magazine report suggesting the International Monetary Fund plans to enter the Greek bailout program with up to 5 billion euros, offered a boost to Greek stocks at the end of the week, leading to significant gains across the board on the local bourse.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 639.46 points, adding 1.60 percent to Thursday's 629.36 points.

On a weekly basis it advanced 2.51 percent - its first week of gains after five weeks of losses.

The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 2.08 percent on Friday to end at 1,716.03 points, though small-caps lost 0.05 percent.

The banks' index improved 2.74 percent, with Eurobank rising 6.19 percent.

PPC grabbed 4.320 percent, Jumbo jumped 4.28 percent and Coca-Cola HBC increased 4.12 percent, while Ellaktor fell 2.63 percent.

Motor Oil climbed 1.61 percent to reach a level...