Bourse gains bode well for August
The local bourse ended the month of July with encouraging signs of healthy gains for stocks and increased turnover compared with previous days, while the benchmark index posted a rise of 4.37 percent month-on-month.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 884.60 points – the highest level in the last month and a half – adding 2.04 percent to Tuesday’s 866.90 points.
The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 index expanded by 0.68 percent to end at 300.17 points, clearing the 300-point level after a long time, which bodes rather well for the first couple of weeks in August.
Public Power Corporation led the blue chips with a rise of 6.86 percent, followed by the OPAP gaming company (up 4.98 percent), OTE telecom (3.98 percent) and Frigoglass (3.02 percent).
On the losing side were Eurobank Properties (down 1.14 percent) and National Bank (0.75 percent).
The banks’ sectoral index recorded an 8.02 percent decline in July.
In total 76 stocks reported gains, 48 registered losses and 23 remained unchanged.
Turnover amounted to 37.7 million euros, the highest so far this week and up from Tuesday’s 22.8 million.
