ATHEX: Blue chips drive stock index higher

Even without the support of bank stocks, the Athens bourse benchmark soared to yet another nine-year high on Wednesday, in line with the positive mood across eurozone markets. Four out of the 21 non-banking blue chips closed at historic highs, also helped by the Scope Ratings report about the growing prospect of Greece regaining investment grade.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,331.62 points, adding 1.20% to Tuesday's 1,315.89 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 1.28% to end at 3,233.45 points.

The banks index earned 0.23%, as Alpha rose 1.03%, National grabbed 0.29% and Eurobank edged up 0.03%, while Piraeus dropped 0.62%. Ellaktor jumped 7.01%, Cenergy Holdings soared 6.33%, Viohalco bagged 3.45%, Public Power Corporation collected 3.37% and Mytilineos augmented 3.30%, just as Sarantis gave up 1.81%.

In total 73 stocks reported...