Buying in OPAP, OTE pulls market upward
Stocks gained yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), thanks in part to demand for shares in betting agency OPAP and OTE Telecom. Interest spilled over into medium- and small-capitalization stocks. The ASE general index closed at 3,060.73 points, a gain of 23.46 points or 0.77 percent. In June, it gained 3.42 percent to bring this year’s overall gain to 9.85 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 0.62 percent to close at 1,714.29 points, while mid-caps and small-caps gained 0.92 percent and 0.45 percent respectively. OPAP’s stock gained 5.47 percent to close at 23.92 euros, as nearly 3 million shares, worth almost 69 million euros, changed hands. OTE gained 2.56 percent to close at 16.04 euros. Other blue chip gainers included Intracom (up 2.44 percent to 4.20 euros), Germanos (1.39 percent to a 52-week-high of 27.68 euros), PPC (1.18 percent to 20.64 euros) and Hellenic Petroleum (1.14 percent to 8.84 euros). National Bank gained 0.43 percent, closing at 28.08 euros, before its first-quarter results, which far exceeded market expectations, were released. Of 338 traded stocks, 176 gained, 95 declined and 67 ended unchanged. Turnover declined slightly, to 278.4 million euros, including 33.5 million in prearranged trades.
