Greek stocks rose in early session trading on Tuesday, lifted by hopes for an agreement on the Greek debt standoff and by a further recovery in the shares of Greece’s top banks.
Athens’ new government dropped calls for a write-off of its foreign debt and proposed swapping debt for growth-linked bonds.
Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, in London to reassure private investors that he was not seeking a showdown with Brussels over a new debt agreement, said the new left-wing government would spare privately held bonds from losses, a source told Reuters.
The Athens Stock Exchange FTSE Banks Index, which hit a record low last week, rose 9.3 per cent. National Bank of Greece climbed 10 per cent, Alpha Bank was up 9 per cent and Eurobank up 9.5 per cent.
Athens’ broader ATG benchmark equity index was up 4.6 per cent.