Stock index rebounds
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) benchmark general index last week reversed a halt in gains the week before, ending on Friday at 1,750.97 points, or 2.23 percent higher than a week earlier, after three sessions with gains and two with losses. Total trade volume dropped to 537.95 million euros (an average per session of 107.59 million) from 642.61 million the week before. Investor interest was focused on small-capitalization stocks, with the FTSE/ASE-80 gaining 6.99 percent. The mid-cap FTSE/ASE-40 followed with gains of 3.57 percent, while the blue-chip FTSE/ASE-20 advanced 2.18 percent. As a result, the FTSE/ASE-140, a composite of the above three indices, closed 2.92 percent higher at 2,016.77 points. All sectoral indices registered gains except heavyweight telecommunications, whose 0.76 percent loss trimmed the overall positive performance. Textiles led gainers with 13.93 percent, followed by information technology (8.52 percent) and wholesale commerce (8.47 percent). Holdings and IT equipment-solutions came close behind, rising 7.09 and 7.01 percent, respectively. Among the 367 individual shares traded, 314 ended with gains, 44 suffered losses and nine remained unchanged. Construction company Themeliodomi (CR) led winners with a hefty 36 percent rise, followed by ETMA (CR) with 29.63 percent. At the laggards’ end, Varveris-Moda Bagno (CR) and Stabilton (PB) ended up with losses of 23.65 and 20.93 percent respectively. OTE Telecom, its mobile subsidiary CosmOTE and Public Power Corporation were the most heavily traded securities.
