Small-caps hit hardest
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index ended at 1,813.32 points on Friday, down 59.51 points, or 3.18 percent, from the previous week’s close. The last four of the week’s five sessions ended with losses. The total value of shares traded reached 520.24 million euros (an average daily volume of 104.04 million euros), against 829.53 million the week before, when over 10 percent of mobile telecommunications firm Vodafone-Panafon changed hands. Small-capitalization stocks, the focus of buying interest the week before, were the hardest hit last week: The FTSE/ASE-80 of small-caps lost 6.05 percent, ending at 532.21 points. The FTSE/ASE-40 of mid-caps declined 3.15 percent, to 203.71 points, and the FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips fell 2.77 percent, to 889.15 points. All sectoral indices sustained losses. Worst hit were insurance stocks, which fell 9.62 percent. They were followed by IT equipment and solutions (8.40 percent) and information technology firms (7.01 percent). Retail commerce stocks resisted better than others, dropping ‘only’ 1.43 percent. Of the 368 stocks traded last week, 42 gained, 314 fell and 12 remained unchanged. The top gainers were the preferred stocks of Eskimo and Stabilton, which rose 21.34 percent and 17.86 percent, respectively. Emborikos Desmos led the losers, declining 28.81 percent, followed by Stabilton’s common stock (27.27 percent). The most heavily traded stock by far was Coca-Cola HBC, with an average value of 18 million euros per session. This was due to the sale of a significant chunk by one of the main shareholders. It was followed by OTE (8.76 million) and Public Power Corporation (4.03 million).
