A few blue chips help push index forward
Stocks gained yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) due to investor interest in certain blue chips, especially National and Alpha banks, state betting organization OPAP and bottler Coca-Cola HBC. The ASE general index closed at 3,060.37 points, a gain of 12.73 points or 0.42 percent, its highest closing since March 15. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 0.47 percent to close at 1,723.06 points, while mid- and small-caps gained 0.06 percent and 0.37 percent respectively. Among blue chips, cement firm Titan (up 1.96 percent to 25.98 euros) and Duty Free Shops (1.78 percent to 14.08 euros) posted the biggest gains. Alpha Bank gained 1.33 percent to close at 24.36 euros, National gained 0.76 percent to close at 29 euros and OPAP (+0.78 percent) reached 20.76 euros. Coca-Cola (up 0.78 percent to 213.18 euros) posted a 52-week high, as did Mytilineos (10.72 euros), Neochimiki (3.98 euros) and Imperio (3 euros). By contrast, Public Power Corporation fell 0.60 percent to a 52-week low of 19.82 euros. Of the 330 traded stocks, 139 gained, 109 declined and 82 ended unchanged. Turnover fell significantly, to 165.85 million euros, including 25 million in prearranged trades.
