Thin gains, volume rises
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index closed on Friday at 1,680.46 points, a rise of just 0.06 percent over the previous week’s close of 1,679.43 points. Turnover recovered to 269.82 million euros from 221.20 million in the previous week, an average of 53.96 million euros per session, including pre-agreed block trades. There were only small changes in the Financial Times indices, with only the FTSE/ASE 20 blue-chip index losing ground by 0.17 percent. FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 made the biggest gains, 0.92 percent, while FTSE/ASE Mid-40 advanced 0.56 percent and FTSE/ASE-140, a composite of the previous three indices, 0.06 percent to 1,888.38 points. Most sectoral indices advanced. Holding companies remained steady for the second straight week, losing just 0.02 percent. Insurance, basic metals and IT equipment & solutions firms outperformed all other categories, with gains of 3.25 percent, 3.56 percent and 4.21 percent respectively. The biggest losses were sustained by telecommunications companies (1.48 percent) and construction firms (0.88 percent). Of the 366 individual stocks traded last week, 192 registered gains, 134 losses and 40 remained unchanged. Gainers were led by Rainbow Computers, which advanced 32.69 percent, and Lanakam (PR), which advanced 21.85 percent. The top losers were Boutari (24.29 percent) and Xifias Fisheries (23.68 percent). Once again, OTE Telecom was the most heavily traded stock, with an average turnover of 8.88 million euros per session. State lottery firm OPAP again followed, with 2.96 million per session.
