Blue chip buying helps put an end to slide
Stocks gained yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), as investor interest in blue chips helped end a four-session decline during which the market dropped 2.72 percent. The ASE composite share price index closed at 4,095.17 points, a gain of 37.77 points or 0.93 percent. The FTSE/Athex 20 index of blue chips gained 1.17 percent to close at 2,242.24 points, while mid-caps and small-caps gained 0.57 and 0.25 percent respectively. The FTSE/Athex International index gained 1.14 percent, closing at 5,654.83 points. Several blue chips made significant gains: cement company Titan (up 4.14 percent to 37.70 euros), ATEBank (3.24 percent to 5.74 euros), National Bank (2.73 percent to 39.90 euros), electricity company PPC (2.34 percent to 18.36 euros) and Piraeus Bank (2.25 percent to 20.90 euros). By contrast, losses were sustained by technology holding company Intracom (down 2.33 percent to 6.70 euros), jewelry maker and retailer Folli-Follie (1.04 percent to 24.70 euros), betting company OPAP (0.92 percent to 32.30 euros) and electronics retailer Germanos (3.08 percent to 14.04 euros). Of 324 traded shares, 145 gained, 131 declined and 48 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 396.06 million euros, including 98.3 million in prearranged trades.
