Blue chips get bulk of investor interest
The Athens bourse (ASE) closed mixed yesterday, with blue chips, particularly OTE Telecom, showing strong gains but the majority of stocks ending on lower ground. The ASE general index gained 0.68 percent to close at 3,086.51 points. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips was 0.74 percent higher, while mid- and small-caps declined 0.57 percent and 0.14 percent respectively. OTE climbed 3.25 percent to a new year-high of 15.88 euros. Apart from telecoms, the construction index was also perky, climbing 1.65 percent, with Hellenic Technodomiki continuing its ascent with gains of 1.84 percent. Themeliodomi, however, crashed 11.32 percent lower. Duty Free Shops ended 2.52 percent higher and Public Power Corporation (PPC) and Coca-Cola HBC gained 1.10 and 0.87 percent respectively. Banks, continuing to benefit from expectations of a solution to their pension fund problem, added 0.60 percent, with Eurobank up 1.66 percent and National up 0.89 percent to to 29.54 euros. Of the 336 stocks traded, 111 gained, 139 declined and 86 ended unchanged. Turnover rose slightly, to 180.97 million euros, with National Bank, OTE, Alpha Bank and PPC accounting for a combined 87.52 million.
