Market hurt by profit-taking in banks
Stocks remained mired in the red yesterday, losing 1.67 percent as a combination of profit-taking in banks after Friday’s gains and weak European bourses kept investors nervous. The Athens benchmark general index fell below 1,700 points to end at 1,692.20, with banks losing 2.27 percent. «We had a correction today due to the general concerns abroad, as well as investors taking gains in large-caps,» said analyst Elias Athanassiou at Selas Investments. Blue chip losses mirrored those on the broader market, with the FTSE/ASE-20 index off 1.65 percent to 838.36 points. Telecom stocks trimmed early losses to end off 0.78 percent. Mid-caps fell 1.82 percent and small-caps tumbled 2.84 percent. Turnover fell to a total of 63.65 million euros from 98.50 million euros on Friday, with 14.9 million shares changing hands. Losers beat winners 309 to 28, with 18 shares unchanged on 355 traded. (Reuters)
