Slight gains but small volume as sell-offs loom
Stocks gained slightly on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) yesterday, pushing the index closer to the 3,000-point level. Developments on the privatization front have created expectations in the market, which remains stuck at low volumes. After initial losses, the ASE general index recovered to close at 2,969.20 points, a gain of 9.67 points or 0.33 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 0.35 percent to close at 1,660.11 points, while the mid- and small-caps indices gained 1.63 percent and 0.64 percent respectively. Four stocks reached 52-week highs: Delta Holdings’ common stock (up 7.33 percent to 6.44 euros), Interinvest (3.77 percent to 0.55 euros), Allatini (3.18 percent to 1.62 euros) and Astra Investments (1.57 percent to 1.29 euros). By contrast, six stocks dropped to 52-week lows: Nexans Hellas (down 1.57 euros), ETEM (1.43 euros), Mathios (1.38 euros), Akritas (0.87 euros), Epilektos (0.33 euros) and Viosol (0.19 euros). Hellenic Petroleum was the biggest winner among blue chips, rising 3.07 percent to close at 8.06 euros. Of the 311 traded stocks, 152 gained, 105 declined and 54 ended unchanged. Turnover was 149.7 million euros, including 28.5 million in prearranged trades.
