Stocks rise across the board; index up 1.04 pct
Stocks bounced back yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) in a session marked by surging small-capitalization stocks. The ASE general index closed at 2,941.37 points, a gain of 30.15 points or 1.04 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 0.89 percent to close at 1,622.53 points, while mid-caps and small-caps gained 0.69 percent and 1.81 percent respectively. Among blue chips, OPAP shot up 4.59 percent to 20.98 euros and CosmOTE gained 4.02 percent to close at 15 euros after deciding to distribute a dividend of 0.90 euros per share. Other significant gainers included Folli-Follie (up 3.80 percent to 23.50 euros), Piraeus Bank (2.56 percent to 14.42 euros), National Bank (1.80 percent to 26.06 euros) and Hellenic Petroleum (1.61 percent to 8.84 euros). By contrast, OTE declined 1.07 percent to 13.42 euros and Alpha Bank shed 1.07 percent to close at 25.88 euros. Among other stocks, Maillis (up 3.33 percent), Hellenic Exchanges (2.12 percent), Heracles (1.17 percent) and Rokas (0.92 percent) closed at new year-highs. Of the 355 traded stocks, 234 gained, 72 declined and 49 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 214.39 million euros, including 15.46 million in prearranged trades.
