With a very convincing rally, the Athens Stock Exchange returned to positive territory, "flew" to new 13-year highs and resumed its climb towards the 1,500-unit peaks.

Now the distance from the next resistances, which have been inviolable since April 2011, is considered extremely short (less than seven points), with the euphoric mood abroad guaranteeing their immediate breakthrough.

At the same time, quarterly fundamentals, combined with scenarios for new business deals provide additional support, keeping valuations of listed companies high.

Against this backdrop, during today's session, the General Index posted a significant increase of 1.49% to 1,493.65 points, gaining around 22 points compared to Tuesday's close (1,471.78 points).

The arc of daily fluctuations was fixed at 18 points (from 1,475.05 to 1,493.65 points), with a turnover of 133 million euros, of which 25 million euros were pre-agreed packages.

The banking index, after the recent pullback, climbed to new multi-year highs as it finished up +2.12% at 1,308 points.

National Bank shares gained +4.17% and EUR 8.50, Alpha Bank shares rose +1.77% and EUR 1.6405, Eurobank shares traded +1.63% and EUR 2.057, while Piraeus shares were almost flat at EUR 3.88.

In the high-cap index (+1.57% and 3,617 points), Jumbo's shares expanded +2.8% and 28 euros, with PPC, Viohalco and Elvalhalkor shares following at least +2%. Beyond that, Cenergy climbed +3.5% and EUR 8.7, hitting a new all-time high. Titan Cement also returned to 31 euros, which rallied 3%. At the same time, shares of Terna Energy, Motor Oil, GEK TERNA, Lamda Development and Coca - Cola gained more than 1%, with Helleniq Energy's shares gaining 1.6% to EUR 8.8 (a 4.5-year high).

As for the mid-cap index (+0.49% and 2,386 points), Lavipharm's share stood out positively at +6.8% and EUR 0.95, while AVAX's share jumped +5%, returning above EUR 1.6. Premia shares followed at +4%, with shares of Alumyl and Kri Kri expanding by 2.5%