Retail investors jump onto the bandwagon
Stocks continued climbing yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) in a session marked by significantly higher turnover and heavy participation by retail investors. The ASE general index closed at 3,754.71 points, a gain of 43.82 points or 1.18 percent. The last time the ASE closed at that level was in early November 2000. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips gained 1.22 percent to close at 2,067.64 points, while mid-caps and small-caps gained 1.73 percent and 1.32 percent respectively. The new FTSE/Athex International index gained 1.28 percent to close at 5,140.26 points. Among blue chips, significant gains were made by betting company OPAP (up 2.90 percent to 29.12 euros), EFG Eurobank (1.92 percent to 27.62 euros), metals group Viohalco (1.67 percent to 7.30 euros), Alpha Bank (1.64 percent to 25.98 euros), bottler Coca-Cola HBC (1.62 percent to 25.06 euros), telecommunications company OTE (1.55 percent to 18.30 euros), ATEBank (1.54 percent to 5.28 euros) and Piraeus Bank (1.52 percent to 18.74 euros). By contrast, losses were sustained by Emporiki Bank (down 1.87 percent to 28.34 euros) and electricity company PPC (1.64 percent to 19.18 euros). Of the 328 traded shares, 188 gained, 89 declined and 51 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 347.02 million euros, including 55.54 million in prearranged trades.
