ASE breaks 4,000 points; small-caps outperform
Stocks posted big gains yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange, vaulting over 4,000 points thanks to a turnaround in European markets. Sixty stocks closed at a 52-week high. The ASE composite share price index closed at 4,019.92 points, a gain of 64.25 points or 1.62 percent. The FTSE/Athex 20 index of blue chips gained 1.50 percent to close at 2,205.11 points, while mid- and small-caps gained 2.33 percent and 2.54 percent, respectively. The FTSE/Athex International index gained 1.70 percent to close at 5,517.38 points. Only two blue chips ended with losses: Electricity company PPC tumbled 2.18 percent to close at 18.86 euros and telecoms firm OTE slipped 0.64 percent to 18.54 euros. Among the rest, the biggest gainers were betting company OPAP (up 4 percent to 32.22 euros), telecommunications equipment manufacturer Intracom (3.75 percent to 4.98 euros), Piraeus Bank (2.40 percent to 19.66 euros), bottler Coca-Cola HBC (1.85 percent to 25.26 euros), Alpha Bank (1.83 percent to 28.92 euros) and refiner Motor Oil (1.75 percent to 23.20 euros). Out of 327 traded shares, 245 gained, 49 dropped and 33 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 454.03 million euros, including 45.7 million in prearranged trades.
