Strength in cellular operators Panafon Vodafone and CosmOTE helped trim losses on the Athens bourse yesterday as the broader market slipped 0.21 percent.

Panafon, which is 53 percent owned by Vodafone, ended up 2.38 percent at 5.16 euros.

Telecoms outperformed adding 0.82 percent despite a 0.89 percent drop in index heavyweight OTE Telecom to 11.10 euros.

The Athens bourse’s benchmark general index ended at 1,828.23 points while banks eased 1.12 percent. National Bank, Greece’s largest bank, lost 1.92 percent to 15.30 euros. After the close of trade, National said nine-month group pre-tax profit after minorities fell 51.5 percent to 276.3 million euros, below market expectations.

Blue chips eased 0.46 percent to 907.91 points while mid-caps fell 0.26 percent. Small-caps gained 0.34 percent.

Turnover was 84.02 million euros on 24.5 million shares traded. Winners beat losers 152 to 136 with 72 shares unchanged on 360 traded. (Reuters)