Blue chips lead rebound but outlook is unclear
Greek stocks rebounded in line with a positive mood on other European bourses yesterday, helped by blue chip auctions which sent several of them to close at the day’s high. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index closed 0.87 percent higher at 3,905.98 points. The FTSE/ASE 20 index of blue chips added 0.92 percent to reach 2.135.56 points. Viohalco, Public Power Corporation, Hellenic Technodomiki and OPAP all gained over 2 percent, while banks Emporiki, National and ATEbank ended over 1 percent higher. Alpha Bank, Piraeus, Coca-Cola HBC, Intracom, Duty Free Shops, Cosmote, OTE, Titan and Folli-Follie also gained. In contrast, Eurobank, Germanos, Hellenic Petroleum and Motor Oil fell. The mid- and small-cap indices gained 0.54 percent and 0.75 percent respectively. All but three of the 17 sectoral indices were higher, led by travel & leisure and industrial products & services which gained 2.09 percent and 2.08 percent respectively. Petroleum, food & beverages and financial services edged lower. Turnover totaled 238.9 million euros, of which 101.3 million was accounted for by National Bank and OPAP. Analysts said technical conclusions were difficult to draw from yesterday’s session but if the blue chip index maintained its present level, it would be a «buy» signal.
