Profit-taking hits blue chips, mid-caps
Stocks declined yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), in line with other European markets, as investors locked in short-term profits. The ASE composite share price index closed at 4,148.58 points, a drop of 22.31 points or 0.53 percent. Over the week, it gained 2.47 percent, lifting this year’s gains so far to 13.23 percent. The FTSE/Athex 20 index of blue chips declined 0.45 percent to close at 2,267.86 points. Mid-caps dropped 0.64 percent and small-caps gained 0.91 percent. The FTSE/Athex International index declined 0.53 percent to close at 5,727.81 points. Six blue chips ended with gains, among them ATEBank (up 3.26 percent to 5.70 euros), electricity company PPC (0.92 percent to 17.48 euros), Alpha Bank (0.80 percent to 30.22 euros) and Piraeus Bank (0.76 percent to 21.24 euros). By contrast, losses were sustained by metals group Viohalco (down 2.96 percent to 10.48 euros), EFG Eurobank (2.09 percent to 33.80 euros), refiner Hellenic Petroleum (1.45 percent to 12.26 euros) and telecommunications company OTE (1.07 percent to 18.50 euros). Out of 329 traded shares, 120 gained, 169 declined and 40 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 334.37 million euros, including 27.9 million in prearranged trades.
