Market loses ground; index below 3,900 pts
Stocks declined yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) after three days of near-stability. The ASE general index closed at 3,872.47 points, a drop of 30.39 points or 0.78 percent. The FTSE/ASE index of blue chips declined 0.87 percent to close at 2,116.02 points, while mid- and small-caps lost 0.35 percent and 1.57 percent respectively. The FTSE/Athex International declined 0.77 percent, closing at 5,470.25 points. Only four blue chips ended with gains: jewelry and accessories maker and retailer Folli-Follie (up 0.74 percent to 21.66 euros), Duty Free Shops (0.63 percent to 12.76 euros), refiner Motor Oil (0.10 percent to 20.52 euros) and bottler Coca-Cola HBC (0.08 percent to 25.76 euros). The biggest losers were Piraeus Bank (down 1.94 percent to 20.20 euros), refiner Hellenic Petroleum (1.79 percent to 9.88 euros), Emporiki Bank (1.74 percent to 22.60 euros), betting monopoly OPAP (1.70 percent) and Public Power Corporation (1.61 percent to 18.30 euros). Of the 303 traded shares, 61 gained, 191 declined and 51 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 253.10 million euros, including 32.05 million in prearranged trades. The top listings, by turnover, were OPAP (42.82 million euros), National Bank (39.19 million) and Piraeus Bank (25.98 million).
