Profit-taking shifts to mid- and small-caps
Shares declined slightly on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) yesterday, as investors locked gains in mid-caps and small-caps. The ASE general index closed at 2,692.93 points, a drop of 6.59 points or 0.24 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips dropped marginally (0.01 percent) to close at 1,477.65 points, while the mid-cap and small-cap indices declined 1.17 percent and 0.54 percent respectively. Blue chips were divided but, in general, did not fluctuate much. Gainers included Alpha Bank (up 1.46 percent to 24.98 euros), Titan (1.35 percent to 21.02 euros), CosmOTE (0.71 percent to 14.10 euros) and EFG Eurobank Ergasias (0.71 percent to 22.76 euros). By contrast, on the losing side, were National Bank (down 0.95 percent to 23.04 euros), Emporiki (0.84 percent to 23.60 euros), state betting agency OPAP (0.42 percent to 19.06 euros) and OTE Telecom (0.32 percent to 12.46 euros). Of the 356 traded shares, 89 gained, 187 declined and 80 remained unchanged. Turnover dropped slightly, to 170.52 million euros, including 28.4 million in prearranged trades of share blocks. The latter included 1,374,980 shares of investment firm Dias, which changed hands at 1.19 euros per share, and 1.3 million Vioter shares at 1.01 euros.
