Greek stocks rise as banks recover from crash

Athens - Greek stocks scored small gains on Friday, with the Athens bourse's banking share index outperforming after steep losses this week.

The benchmark overall share index was up 0.6%, with the banks rising 3.5%.

The moves signalled further calming on the bourse, which saw the Greek banking index crash 63% on the first three days of the week, before bouncing back 17.8% on Thursday.

Investors are worried about a needed recapitalisation of Greece's banks - anything from €10bn to €25bn, according to the European Union. That would cut heavily into current shareholder value.

Greece is in negotiations with the EU and International Monetary Fund for as much as €86bn in fresh loans to stave off financial ruin and economic collapse.

Questions about how easily that agreement will come have also been weighing on the bourse, which was closed for five weeks before Monday as part of capital controls to stop a flight of euros.