Little change overall as small-caps outperform
Stocks ended slightly higher yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), with investors going mostly after small-capitalization companies. The ASE general index closed at 3,118.76 points, a gain of 2.41 points or 0.08 percent. During the session, it ranged between 3,109.89 and 3,130.50 points. Over the week, it gained 0.65 percent, bringing its overall gain this year to 11.94 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 0.09 percent to close at 1,747.98 points, while mid-caps and small-caps gained 0.16 percent and 1.15 percent respectively. Emporiki Bank shares jumped 5.93 percent to close at 24.28 euros, with Citigroup raising the target price to 23 euros per share from 19.5 previously and proclaiming Emporiki an «attractive takeover target.» Other blue chips with significant gains included construction firm Olympic Technical (up 3.45 percent to 5.40 euros), cement company Titan (1.79 percent to 26.20 euros), National Bank (1.03 percent to 29.40 euros) and bottler Coca-Cola HBC (1 percent to 24.26 euros, yet another 52-week high). Of 334 traded stocks, 138 gained, 125 declined and 71 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 195.94 million euros, including 21.63 million in prearranged trades.
