Telecoms, banks keep bourse on a slide
Stocks remained in negative territory for the second successive day yesterday following the trend set by the major European markets. The benchmark general share index lost 1.26 percent to close at 2,154.58 points. Blue chips were down 0.95 percent to 1,074.82 points as investors locked in gains from the recent rally. Profit-taking took the banking index down 0.39 percent to 3,684.72 points. Commercial Bank slid 2.29 percent to 17.90 euros, due in part to lower-than-expected first-half earnings posted last week. UBS downgraded the stock to «Reduce 2» from «Neutral 2,» citing disappointment over first-half results even though it raised its price target following the share’s recent strong gains. Heavyweight OTE gave up 2.30 percent to 11.02 euros, with mobile subsidiary CosmOTE losing 2.29 percent to 10.24 euros. Turnover fell to 202.04 million euros, with 45.91 million shares changing hands. Decliners outnumbered advancers 249 to 82, with 40 unchanged. (Reuters)