Market correction does not affect small-caps
Stocks dropped moderately yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), in what was widely interpreted as a correction after recent heavy gains. Despite the overall sell-off, small-capitalization firms continued to draw investors. The ASE general index closed at 3,637.84 points, a decline of 20.33 points or 0.56 percent. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips declined 0.48 percent to close at 2,001.32 points. Mid-caps eased 0.07 percent but small-caps gained 0.43 percent. Among blue chips, significant gains were scored by ATEBank (up 4.27 percent to 4.88 euros), metals group Viohalco (3.51 percent to 7.06 euros), Emporiki Bank (3.31 percent to 28.10 euros), Duty Free Shops (2.33 percent to 14.92 euros) and electricity company PPC (1.42 percent to 18.62 euros). By contrast, losses were sustained by telecommunications equipment manufacturer Intracom (down 2.86 percent to 5.44 euros), bottler Coca-Cola HBC (2.51 percent to 24.84 euros), mobile telecommunications service provider Cosmote (2.05 percent to 19.10 euros), EFG Eurobank (1.63 percent to 26.56 euros) and Alpha Bank (1.44 percent to 24.72 euros). Of the 327 traded shares, 164 gained, 123 declined and 40 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 253.66 million euros, including 78.49 million in prearranged trades.
