Stocks again moved southward yesterday as early gains were not maintained, due to the negative climate on most European markets.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,897.07 points yesterday, dropping by 1.46 percent from Tuesday. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index decreased by 1.52 percent to end at 990.21 points.

The only blue chips to register gains were OPAP (up 1.29 percent), Bank of Cyprus (1.05 percent) and Motor Oil (0.49 percent). The worst performance was for the blue chips of Marfin Investment Group (down 4.40 percent), Hellenic Petroleum (2.91 percent), Titan cement (2.88 percent), Piraeus Bank (2.85 percent) and Alpha Bank (2.40 percent).

Turnover reached a disappointing 148.5 million euros.