Further decline with small-caps under fire
Stocks declined yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) for the fourth session in a row, in a session that saw small-capitalization listings come under heavy selling pressure. The ASE composite share price index closed at 4,057.40 points, a drop of 9.21 points or 0.23 percent. The FTSE/Athex 20 index of blue chips declined 0.09 percent to close at 2,216.22 points, while mid- and small-caps declined 0.46 and 2.49 percent respectively. The FTSE/Athex International index declined 0.21 percent, closing at 5,591.03 points. Several blue chips made significant gains: betting company OPAP (1.87 percent to 32.60 euros), mobile telecommunications service provider Cosmote (1.18 percent to 18.88 euros) and electricity company PPC (1.13 percent to 17.94 euros). By contrast, losses were sustained by technology holding company Intracom (3.65 percent to 6.86 euros), Duty Free Shops (2.38 percent to 16.40 euros), metals group Viohalco (2.08 percent to 9.40 euros) and refiners Hellenic Petroleum (1.61 percent to 12.20 euros) and Motor Oil (1.37 percent to 21.56 euros). Out of 322 traded shares, 51 gained, 241 declined and 30 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 307.24 million euros, including 14.6 million in prearranged trades.
