Small-caps shine, while index declines slightly
Stocks declined slightly yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), in a session marked by investor preference for small-capitalization firms. The ASE general index closed at 3,626.87 points, a drop of 3.11 points or 0.09 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips declined 0.21 percent to close at 2,010.51 points, while mid- and small-caps gained 0.26 percent and 2.92 percent respectively. The main story yesterday was the agreement between Delta Holdings and food company Chipita, with the former’s stock rising 2.83 percent and the latter’s falling 1.18 percent, while shares of fast-food chain Goody’s, a Delta subsidiary, gained 6.95 percent. The top gainers among blue chips were metals group Viohalco (up 2.90 percent to 6.38 euros) telecommunications company OTE (2.10 percent to 18.46 euros), mobile telecommunications service provider Cosmote (1.28 percent to 19 euros), Emporiki Bank (0.62 percent to 26 euros) and electricity company PPC (0.56 percent to 18.10 euros). By contrast, losses were sustained by cement producer Titan (down 2.96 percent to 33.42 euros) and betting company OPAP (1.28 percent to 27.88 euros). Of the 328 traded shares, 179 gained, 102 declined and 48 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 236.65 million euros, including 35.87 million in prearranged trades.
