Slight overall gains, small-caps outperform
Stocks gained slightly yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), with investors mostly chasing small-capitalization titles. The ASE general index closed at 3,252.15 points, a gain of 8.79 points or 0.27 percent. On a weekly basis it rose 4.28 percent, bringing gains so far this year to 16.72 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 0.13 percent to close at 1,829.77 points, while mid- and small-caps gained 0.96 percent and 1.41 percent respectively. New 52-week highs were achieved by OTE (17.18 euros, up 2.26 percent), Folli-Follie (26.34 euros, up 2.81 percent), Aluminium of Greece, metals group Mytilineos and metal products firm METKA. Significant blue chip gainers included Intracom (up 2.55 percent to 4.02 euros), mobile telecommunications firm CosmOTE (1.46 percent to 15.26 euros) and metals group Viohalco (1.43 percent to 5.68 euros). By contrast, cement firm Titan lost 2 percent to close at 27.44 euros and EFG Eurobank dropped 1.33 percent to 26.70 euros. Of 335 traded stocks, 201 gained, 83 declined and 51 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 221.47 million euros, including 34.78 million in prearranged trades. Total market capitalization reached 110.72 billion euros.
