Banks gain the most
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index barely moved during Christmas week. It lost 0.06 percent, or 1.23 points, to close on Wednesday at 2,209.45 points. The market was closed on Thursday and Friday. Weekly turnover, including block trades, was a mere 332.41 million euros, an average of 110.80 million euros per session, from 923.15 million euros the previous week. Two of the four Financial Times indices ended higher: The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips rose 0.69 percent to close at 1,135.91 points, while the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 fell 0.70 percent and the FTSE/ASE Small Cap 80 dropped 1.17 percent. The FTSE/ASE-140, a composite of the above three, rose 0.31 percent to close at 2,594.53 points. Most sectoral indices – 14 out of 18 – ended with losses. The biggest gains were made by banks (1.98 percent), followed by holding companies (0.36 percent) and construction (0.34 percent). Losers were led by publishing and printing (3.26 percent), followed by food and beverages (1.64 percent) and real estate (1.33 percent). Of the 362 shares traded, 107 gained, 212 declined and 43 remained unchanged. Ergas led the gainers (29.17 percent), followed by Alisida (13.21 percent) and Intersat (11.54 percent). Losers were led by Mathios (16.50 percent), Sex Form (10.53 percent) and the Ideal group (10 percent). The week’s most marketable securities were Alpha Bank, with an average daily turnover of 14.71 million euros, EFG Eurobank Ergasias (6.47 million) and National Bank (5.94 million).
