Few gainers as bourse follows European gloom
Stocks fell on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) yesterday, following the trend in European markets. Small-capitalization stocks, as usual, were hit worst. At present, over half the stocks listed on the ASE have a capitalization lower than their book value. The ASE general index closed at 2,331.94 points, a decline of 22.72 points or 0.96 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips shed 0.82 percent to close at 1,268.40 points. Mid- and small-caps declined 1.12 percent and 1.69 percent, respectively. More than 40 stocks retreated to year-lows, including electronics retailer Germanos, telecoms equipment manufacturer Intracom, IT firm Altec, construction company Michaniki, Duty Free Shops, Agricultural Bank of Greece, the Piraeus Port Authority and passenger shipping company Attica Group. Blue chip gainers included cement company Titan (up 1.09 percent to 20.38 euros), Public Power Corporation (0.70 percent to 20.02 euros) and state betting agency OPAP (0.13 percent to 15.58 euros). Of the 347 traded stocks, 49 gained, 247 declined and 51 ended unchanged. Turnover was 107.47 million euros, including 11.98 million in prearranged trades of share blocks.
