Market rebounds as European fears recede
Stocks gained yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) as the market followed the recovery of European bourses. The ASE had declined 4.45 percent over the previous three sessions. The ASE general index closed at 2,905.20 points, a gain of 16.10 points or 0.56 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 0.62 percent to close at 1,623.45 points, while mid-caps and small-caps gained 0.40 percent and 1 percent respectively. Institutional investors focused on National Bank and mobile telecommunications firm CosmOTE. As a result, National gained 3.21 percent to close at 27 euros and CosmOTE rose 1.64 percent to 13.82 euros. Other blue chips with significant gains included bottler Coca-Cola HBC (up 2.64 percent to 20.98 euros), Duty Free Shops (2.29 percent to 13.40 euros) and Emporiki Bank (2.23 percent to 22.90 euros). By contrast, state betting agency OPAP dropped 2.21 percent, closing at 21.22 euros, and EFG Eurobank declined 1.86 percent to 24.24 euros. Of 335 traded stocks, 142 gained, 114 declined and 79 ended unchanged. Turnover gained slightly, reaching 155.91 million euros, including 24.1 million in prearranged trades, mainly in CosmOTE and real estate developer Babis Vovos.
