ASE off 1.7 pct; liquidity drained by PPC
Stocks fell yesterday with utility Public Power Corporation (PPC) bucking the trend on speculation a public offering for 13 percent of the company will be fully taken up. «Liquidity on the market was contained all week and even more so (yesterday) because of the PPC offering,» said head analyst Manos Hadjidakis at Magna Trust. PPC gained 1.30 percent to end at 12.44 euros, while the Athens benchmark general index lost 1.7 percent to 1,813.32 points. «There’s a feeling PPC’s public offering will be a success and that the shares will be priced in the middle of the range, which is why we saw the shares gaining today,» said one analyst. Blue chips lost 1.67 percent to 889.15 points. Mid-caps lost 2.44 percent and small-caps fell 3.51 percent. Turnover eased further to 83.94 million euros, from 85.48 million yesterday. Losers beat winners 327 to 20, with 12 shares unchanged on 359 traded. (Reuters)
