ASE follows European markets, clears 3,300
Stocks jumped higher yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), following the trend in other European markets, in a session marked by an increase in turnover. The ASE general index closed at 3,307.32 points, a gain of 37.82 points or 1.16 percent. It was the first time in seven sessions that it had cleared 3,300 points. On a monthly basis, however, it declined 2.21 percent in October. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 1.20 percent to close at 1,836.71 points, while mid- and small-caps gained 0.51 percent and 0.34 percent respectively. Several blue chips recorded significant gains, including construction group Hellenic Technodomiki (up 4.35 percent to 4.32 euros), refiners Hellenic Petroleum (3.33 percent to 11.80 euros) and Motor Oil (2.74 percent to 18 euros), Duty Free Shops (2.35 percent to 14.78 euros), Alpha Bank (1.79 percent to 23.92 euros), Emporiki Bank (1.57 percent to 23.26 euros), cement producer Titan (1.51 percent to 28.52 euros), betting company OPAP (1.35 percent to 24.08 euros) and National Bank (1.19 percent to 32.52 euros). Of 334 traded stocks, 169 gained, 96 declined and 69 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 208.16 million euros, including 24 million in prearranged trades.
