Cash concerns keep Athens bourse action tight
Cash is drying up in the Greek market and this is being felt increasingly at the local bourse as well, as the benchmark saw all its Tuesday gains evaporate on Thursday on relatively low turnover.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 764.88 points, dropping 3.74 percent from Tuesday’s 794.57 points. The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 index contracted 4.54 percent to end at 226.92 points, although small-caps inched up 0.43 percent.
Banks spearheaded the blue chip decline as their sectoral index shrank by 11.88 percent. Piraeus Bank lost over a sixth of its value (down 17.27 percent), Alpha fell 12.61 percent and National gave up 11.11 percent.
Public Power Corporation lost 7.38 percent. Jumbo, on the other hand, jumped 2.14 percent.
In total 37 stocks expanded, 67 contracted and 19 stayed put.
Turnover amounted to 77.8 million euros, down from Tuesday’s 93 million.
