ATHEX: Post-holiday blues at local stock market
The first bourse session at Athinon Avenue after the four-day Christmas break saw the majority of stocks post small losses on very low trading volume, while any hopes that the holiday spirit might lead investors to loosen their purse strings in the flagging Greek market proved wishful thinking.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed on Monday at 615.31 points, shedding 0.75 percent from Wednesday’s 619.96 points.
The large-cap FTSE 25 index contracted 1.16 percent to end at 181.60 points, while the mid-cap index gave up 2.11 percent.
The absence of any significant buying interest or news in recent days led to losses of 6.22 percent for Lamda Development and 5.70 percent for Piraeus Port Authority (OLP), which has declined 15.49 percent over the three sessions since the announcement by the state privatization fund (TAIPED) that it will not announce the bidders for OLP’s majority stake before January 12.
PPC lost 1.57 percent while heading down toward its year-low, while Jumbo advanced 4.44 percent.
In total 46 stocks registered gains, 55 endured losses and 20 remained unchanged.
Turnover amounted to 53 million euros, the lowest of the last 13 sessions and less than half of last Wednesday’s 107.8 million.
