Shares rose slightly on the Athens Stock Exchange yesterday, bucking the downward trend seen on other European bourses. The session was marked by wide fluctuations and the resurgence of medium-capitalization stocks.

The ASE general index closed at 2,891.60 points, near the session high, a gain of 12.42 points or 0.43 percent.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 0.39 percent to close at 1,624.15 points. Mid-caps gained 1.16 percent, while small-caps dropped 0.04 percent.

Several blue chips ended at year highs: Emporiki Bank (up 2.58 percent to 26.26 euros), Olympic Technical (7.21 percent to 4.46 euros), Bank of Piraeus (4.55 percent to 14.72 euros) and Titan (1.71 percent to 25.30 euros). Other blue chips with significant gains included CosmOTE (up 1.80 percent to 14.74 euros), OPAP (1.12 percent to 19.90 euros) and PPC (1.01 percent to 21.90 euros).

All companies controlled by the Bobolas family rebounded: Publisher Pegasus leaped 13.85 percent and construction firms Aktor and Hellenic Technodomiki TEV gained 3.85 percent and 5.71 percent respectively.

Of the 355 traded shares, 116 gained, 176 declined and 63 ended unchanged.

Turnover rose to 194.66 million euros, including 12.71 million in prearranged trades.