Blue chips help clear 4,100 pts
Spurred by a buoyant mood on foreign stock markets after the capture of the 12,000-point mark by the Dow Jones index, the Athens Stock Exchange rode comfortably past the 4,100-point mark, which it pushed past on its way down in mid-May. The general index added 1.20 percent over the week, to close at 4,129.93 points on Friday. Although blue chips, especially banks, attracted the lion’s share of ample liquidity from foreign institutionals, mid-caps were the main beneficiaries of the upswing. The blue chip FTSE/Athex 20 index added 1.18 percent to reach 2,273.47 points, the FTSE/Athex Mid-40 climbed 2.37 percent and the FTSE/Athex Small-Cap 80 edged 0.25 percent lower. Most sectoral indices ended in positive territory, led by raw materials with gains of 3.24 percent, followed by construction, which added 2.24 percent. Banks were 1.39 percent higher. Media was the chief decliner, ending 3.02 percent lower. Turnover totaled 1.51 billion euros, an average per session of 301.3 million – against 332.2 million in the previous week. Banks National and Piraeus topped the turnover list, attracting an average of 46.1 million and 22.2 million per session, respectively. An Emporiki Bank report takes the view in a technical analysis that, provided the new momentum both abroad and at home is maintained, the index is capable of reapproaching the 4,334-point year-high of May 9 in the medium term. It also does not rule out an end-year rally, noting that in the last three years the index has reached its highest points between December and February.
