ATHEX: Alpha cheer spreads at local bourse

Tuesday's session at Athinon Avenue was a one-stock show as it was the first day of trading for Alpha Bank after the major proposal tabled by UniCredit for the Greek lender's stake that bank bailout fund HFSF holds, and the merger of the Italian bank's operations in Romania with those of Alpha. As a result Alpha jumped 12.44%, while most other local stocks registered gains too.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,196.56 points, adding 1.95% to Monday's 1,173.70 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 2.51% to end at 2,955.24 points.

The banks index soared 4.43%, as, besides Alpha, National grew 2.93%, Piraeus earned 1.96% and Eurobank advanced 1.25%. 

Aegean Airlines rose 4.16%, ElvalHalcor grabbed 3.09%, Sarantis fetched 2.93%, Viohalco augmented 2.83% and Mytilineos collected 2.73%, while GEK Terna parted with 1.36%.

In total 88...