Buying interest surges across the board on ASE
Greek stocks ascended to a new 63-month high, with strong buying interest across the board, especially from foreign institutionals. The first two trading sessions of 2006 also saw added interest from domestic institutionals in blue chips. Turnover rose further and the ratio of winners to decliners was about four to one. Only two sectoral indices headed south, travel and entertainment and technology. Healthcare, utility services and industrial products outperformed. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index added 47.58 points, or 1.30 percent, to 3,710.89 points. The blue chip FTSE/ASE 20 index ended 1.20 percent higher, the FTSE/ASE Mid-Cap 40 ascended 1.91 percent and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 gained 1.04 percent. Among blue chips, Viohalco and Alpha Bank outperformed with respective gains of 3.76 percent and 3.73 percent. The Public Power Corporation (PPC) also surged 3.28 percent and Hellenic Petroleum, 2.75 percent. Emporiki Bank gained 2.41 percent and Cosmote 2.26 percent. In contrast, OPAP declined 2.62 percent, ATE Bank 1.52 percent and Titan Cement 0.23 percent. Turnover surged to 279.03 million euros. The most heavily traded stocks were Emporiki Bank, National Bank, PPC and Eurobank.
