ATHEX: Bourse hits level unseen since 2014

The Athens bourse reverted to its rising course with renewed strength on Tuesday, as the benchmark of the market climbed to highs unseen since early April 2014 thanks to the positioning of several investors in local companies ahead of Greece's much-anticipated credit rating upgrade. Still, the main index stopped short of the 1,350-point mark, closing three points off the mid-session high.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,345.95 points, adding 0.64% to Monday's 1,337.42 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 0.59% to end at 3,262.20 points.

The banks index grew 1.29%, as Alpha earned 2.37%, Piraeus grabbed 2.03% and National collected 1.96%, while Eurobank contracted 0.61%. Viohalco jumped 5.12%, Cenergy Holdings climbed 2.94% and Aegean Airlines improved 2.62%, as Jumbo parted with 1.42%, Helleniq Energy lost 0.89% and Ellaktor fell 0.78%.<...