Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- National Bank of Greece SA shares climbed as much as 18 percent in trading on the Athens Exchange today, with the benchmark general index advancing 4.2 percent at 10:54 a.m. in Athens.

National, the largest bank, gained 24 cents, or 13 percent to 2.04 euros while EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA, the second- biggest, added 12 percent to 79 cents. Alpha Bank SA rose 13 percent to 1.18 euros.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Maria Petrakis at mpetrakis@bloomberg.net