Blue chips rebound on Dow Jones exuberance
Greek stocks rebounded yesterday on blue chip strength and an upbeat mood abroad as the Dow Jones overcame the 12,000-point barrier for the first time in history. Gains were across the board but caution was evident in the small-cap category. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index was up 1.02 percent at 4,079.36 points. The blue chip FTSE/ASE 20 index added 0.92 percent, with only three, Public Power Corporation, Cosmote and Alpha Bank, ending in negative territory. Viohalco and Coca-Cola HBC outperformed with gains of more than 4 percent, Titan advanced 3.22 percent, ATEbank added 2.03 percent, Emporiki was up 1.78 percent, National Bank gained 1.73 percent and Hellenic Petroleum advanced 1.65 percent. Eurobank, Motor Oil and Germanos ended unchanged. The FTSE/ASE Mid-40 index was up 0.83 percent and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 gained 0.61 percent. Caution in small-caps spread on a wave of liquidations in construction company AEGEK, which reached the 20 percent limit down at the opening but recovered later to end 7.62 percent down. The company said the main shareholders had sold «a limited number of shares to cover liabilities.» Unibrain, affected by rumors denied by the company, was down 5.60 percent. Turnover rose to 292.8 million euros.
