The market reacted positively to the contents of the government's 1998 budget released on Wednesday, and to the government's position on the drachma, which lifted fears of a devaluation. Investors were also encouraged by a further drop in interbank interest rates and signs of increased liquidity in the money market. However, traders said investors would remain on the sidelines awaiting hikes in commercial bank interest rates on Monday. The general index closed 2.58 percent higher at 1,409.27 points, off the day's highs. The heavily weighted banking sector and other financial shares led the market higher reflecting renewed interest by investors.
Sector indices all scored gains.
The parallel market index for small cap companies rose 2.66 percent. Trading was heavy with turnover at 25.4 billion drachmas. Broadly, advancers led decliners by 192 to 29 with another 15 issues unchanged. Petzetakis, Diekat, Vasilopoulos and Macedonian Plastics scored the biggest percentage gains, while Dane, Bank of Athens, Sato, Daring and Vis suffered the heaviest losses. National Bank of Greece ended at 26,400 drachmas, Ergobank at 14,250, Alpha Credit Bank at 16,500, Delta Dairy at 3,440, Titan Cement at 12,350, Intracom at 11,800 and Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation at 5, 290.