OTE’s Romanian deal cheers up market
Gains in OTE Telecom pushed equities higher yesterday, with investors cheered by news OTE had formally wound up a deal giving it control of Romanian phone company Romtelecom, its biggest foreign investment. The Athens benchmark general index closed up 0.75 percent at 1,683.59 points. Over the week, however, it lost 37.4 points, or 2.17 percent. «We saw blue chips come back into focus today, led by OTE. The signing of the Romtelecom deal and OTE’s announcement it will disclose its plans on Monday helped,» said one analyst. OTE gained as much as 1.4 percent after news that it finally signed the deal to raise its stake in Romtelecom in Bucharest. Blue chips gained 0.87 percent to 835.43 points, but mid-caps lost 0.10 percent and small-caps slipped 0.59 percent. Total turnover came to 75.52 million euros, with 19.5 million shares changing hands. Losers beat winners 198 to 107 with 52 shares unchanged on 357 traded. (Reuters)
