Greek stocks ended a highly volatile session higher in the Athens Stock Exchange on Wednesday, ending a several-day decline in the market.

The general index rose 0.61 percent to end at 2,075.21 points, after falling as much as 2.5 percent to 2,009.06 points one hour before closing bell.

Traders said the market's reaction during the last one hour of trading and the fact that the general index found strong support at the 2,000 level was offering hope of a gradual recovery in stock prices.

The Telecommunications and Cement sectors were the only ones to suffer losses (0.49 percent and 0.17 percent, respectively), while the Textile (3.07 percent), Retail (3.05 percent) and Publications (2.90 percent) sectors scored the biggest percentage gains of the day.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks rose 0.80 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index jumped 1.63 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 2.33 percent higher.

Turnover was heavy 475.1 million euros, of which 260 million euros accounted for a block trade in Alpha Bank. Broadly, advancers led decliners by 234 to 100 with another 34 issues unchanged.