Banks lead index rise while Pegasus crashes
Stocks rebounded on the Athens Stock Exchange yesterday, following three sessions in which the market declined a total of 2.06 percent. The ASE general index closed at 2,879.18 points, a gain of 46.45 points or 1.64 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 2.10 percent to close at 1,617.78 points and mid-caps gained 1.16 percent, while small-caps fell 0.22 percent. Small-caps were heavily affected by publishing and printing, which dropped 4 percent in the wake of the end to negotiations for the acquisition of Pegasus by business tycoon Theodoros Angelopoulos. Pegasus itself, which resumed trading yesterday, dropped 19.79 percent to 2.31 euros. Teletypos, the owner of TV channel Mega, in which Pegasus has a 22 percent share, dropped 5.43 percent, while construction companies Aktor and Hellenic Technodomiki TEV, both owned by members of the Bobolas family, which also controls Pegasus, fell 1.90 percent and 0.57 percent respectively. Yesterday’s rise was fueled by banks, three of which – Piraeus, National and Emporiki – rose to new year-highs of 14.08, 26.66 and 25.60 euros respectively. Of the 347 traded stocks, 62 gained, 216 declined and 69 ended unchanged. Turnover dropped to 173.45 million euros, including 8.93 million in prearranged trades.
