ASE follows Euro downtrend; index off 0.83 percent
Equities stayed firmly on the tails of the European downtrend yesterday, ending lower, but managed to trim intrasession losses of more than 2.0 percent. The Athens bourse showed some technical resistance, as expected, at the 2,615 support level but global pressure and weak first-half corporate results are weighing, said analyst Costas Vergos at Magna Trust. The benchmark general index ended off 0.83 percent at 2,647.42 points. On the week, it lost 4.15 percent, or 114.7 points. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips slipped 0.82 percent to 1,488.26 points, while the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 index of mid-caps shed 0.61 percent. Small-caps dropped 0.56 percent. There’s pressure, as the Greek market is following global trends with a small time lag, said head analyst at P&K Securities Vassilis Theodorou. Construction shares ended off 0.22 percent while Greek IT firms followed the global downtrend, losing 1.35 percent. Banks closed down 0.96 percent, while telecoms slipped 1.12 percent. OTE Telecom eased 0.56 percent to 17.90 euros.
