Stock index bounces back
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) composite price index moved into positive territory last week, gaining 3.78 percent. It closed at 2,345.51 points on Friday after recording gains in four trading sessions and losses in one. The total volume of trading for the week reached 469.99 million euros, representing a daily average of 94 million. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips had the strongest gains among the Financial Times indices, with 4.09 percent. The FTSE/ASE Mid-40 of middle-capitalization stocks moved up 3.75 percent while the FTSE/ASE-80 of small-caps gained 3.14 percent. All sectoral indices also rose. The largest gains were those of the insurance index (6.61 percent) which was followed by publishing and printing (4.77 percent) and banks (4.41 percent). Of the 367 stocks traded, 266 had a positive performance, 79 showed losses and 21 remained unchanged. The NIBID (CR) and NIBID (PR) bank stocks recorded the largest gains, 32.09 percent to 7.82 euros and 36.24 percent to 8.12 euros, respectively. At the bottom end, the biggest losers were VIS (PR), which moved down 21.01 percent, and Sound-Light (CR), which slid 19.58 percent. The most heavily trade stock was OTE Telecom, with a total value of 12.03 million euros. In an interview with Kathimerini, before announcing his decision yesterday, what Manos has to say is genuine and interesting.
