ATHEX: Bourse posts both daily and weekly rise

The benchmark of the Greek stock market cleared the 1,050-point bar on Friday, but that was not enough to prevent it from ending the month of March with a loss - a first after the rising streak from October to February. While the benchmark recorded a drop of 6.61% for March, it ended the first quarter with an increase of 13.42%.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,054.59 points, adding 0.84% to Thursday's 1,045.84 points. On a weekly basis it improved 3.27%.

The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 0.63% to end up at 2,548.89 points, while the banks index closed virtually unchanged on the day.

Lamda Development advanced 3.09%, Motor Oil collected 2.87%, Public Power Corporation climbed 2.57%, Piraeus Bank grew 2.23% and Helleniq Energy grabbed 2.16%, just as OPAP gaming company parted with 1.47%.

In total 71 stocks secured gains, 29...