Publishers lead gains
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index closed at 2,887.86 points on Friday, a gain of 38.55 points or 1.35 percent on the previous week’s close. Turnover rose to 977.31 million euros, an average of 195.46 million per session, from the previous week’s average of 174.90 million. All Financial Times indices gained: the FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 2 percent to close at 1,614.07 points, while the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 gained 0.66 percent and 1.45 percent respectively, and the composite FTSE/ASE-140 index gained 1.81 percent. Fourteen of the 18 sectoral indices ended with gains. The exceptions were basic metals (3.77 percent), textiles (3.61 percent), investment (0.61 percent) and real estate management (0.11 percent). The biggest gainers were publishing and printing (12.37 percent), non-metallic minerals and cement (6.65 percent) and construction (5.17 percent). Of the 362 individual titles traded, 145 gained, 195 declined and 22 ended unchanged. The biggest gainers were publishing firm Pegasus, fueled by rumors, later proven to be accurate, of a change in ownership (54.84 percent), followed by European Reliance (32.73 percent) and Attica Publications (20.59 percent). The biggest decliners were the preferred shares of VIS (42.14 percent), followed by Intersonic (38.46 percent), Naoussa Spinning Mills (23.19 percent) and Kotsovolos (21.85 percent). The most heavily traded stocks were those of National Bank, with an average turnover of 25.47 million euros per session, OPAP (18.07 million), OTE (15.15 million) and Coca-Cola HBC (13.63 million).
