Shares lose ground as investor interest wanes
Shares dropped slightly on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) yesterday, in a session marked by thin trade and small fluctuations. The ASE general index closed at 2,333.23 points, a decline of 10.57 points or 0.45 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips dropped 0.54 percent to close at 1,253.53 points. Mid- and small-caps also dropped, by 0.28 percent and 0.26 percent respectively. Blue chips that outperformed were metals group Viohalco (up 1.25 percent to 6.48 euros), Hellenic Petroleum (1.20 percent to 6.74 euros), CosmOTE (0.59 percent to 13.62 euros), while Emporiki Bank rose marginally (0.11 percent). By contrast, state betting firm OPAP declined 1.27 percent to close at 15.50 euros, OTE Telecom lost 1.26 percent to close at 10.96 euros and Alpha Bank and National Bank dropped 0.79 percent and 0.65 percent respectively. Of the 348 traded stocks, 79 gained, 181 declined and 88 ended unchanged. The top individual gainers were Olympic Catering (14.29 percent), Domus (10 percent) and Haidemenos (8.18 percent), while the biggest losses were sustained by Tsoukaridis (10.51 percent), Ideal (9.09 percent) and Lanacam (8.53 percent). Turnover was less than half of Wednesday’s, at 51.07 million euros, including 2.66 million in prearranged trades.
