Index drops slightly
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index closed at 1,905.83 points on Friday, a loss of 4.77 points or 0.25 percent, compared to the previous week’s close. The last three of the week’s four sessions ended with losses. Total turnover fell to just under 770 million euros, a daily average of just over 192 million, down from 236 million last week. Blue chip stocks came under a relatively greater selling pressure, with the FTSE/ASE-20 index falling 0.99 percent. The mid-cap FTSE/ASE-40 dropped 0.44 percent and the FTSE/ASE-80 of small-caps lost 0.19 percent. The FTSE/ASE-140, a composite of the previous three, lost 0.81 percent. Most sectoral indices showed losses: The heaviest were incurred by insurance (8.01 percent), basic metals (3.47 percent) and non-metallic minerals (3.46 percent). On the other hand, publishing and printing gained 5.70 percent, followed by wholesale commerce (5.04 percent) and textiles (1.96 percent). Among the 367 individual stocks traded, 178 registered gains, 176 fell and 13 remained unchanged. The biggest gains were registered by Neochimiki (43.73 percent), Autohellas (32.77 percent) and Fashion Box Hellas (29.11 percent). Eleven more stocks gained at least 20 percent. The biggest losers were Dias Fisheries (26.11 percent), Epilektos (20.21 percent), Images & Sound (17.55 percent) and several others with double-figure losses. The most marketable share by far was that of OTE Telecom, with an average daily turnover of 23.69 million euros. National and Alpha, Greece’s biggest banks, were far behind, with daily averages of 7.39 million and 6.42 million, respectively.
