Blue chips boost index
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index closed at 2,422.17 points on Friday, a gain of 13.49 points or 0.56 percent over the previous week. Turnover dropped significantly to 424.56 million euros, an average of 84.91 million per session, from an average of 125.55 million the previous week. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 1.25 percent to close at 1,329.42 points, but the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 declined 0.16 percent and 2.23 percent respectively. The composite FTSE/ASE-140 gained 0.85 percent to close at 2,815.90 points. Eleven of the 18 sectoral indices declined. The top gainers were insurance (8.27 percent), foods and beverages (3.39 percent), banks (1.94 percent) and IT solutions and equipment (0.60 percent). The main losers were publishing and printing (6.72 percent), construction (5.46 percent), textiles (3.23 percent) and information technology (2.23 percent). Of the 369 stocks traded, 103 gained, 234 declined and 32 ended unchanged. Top individual gainers were Viosol’s common stock (50 percent), Agrotiki Insurance (36.04 percent), Agricultural Bank of Greece (33.98 percent) and Viosol’s preferred stock (33.33 percent). Top losers were Xifias Fisheries’ preferred stock (37.66 percent), E. Pairis (32.05 percent), N. Varveris Moda Bagno (17.99 percent) and Feedus (15.58 percent). The most heavily traded stock was Alpha Bank, with an average per session turnover of 11.08 million euros, followed by National Bank (9.32 million), EFG Eurobank Ergasias (8.26 million) and OPAP (6.72 million).
