Buoyant market closes at a six-month high
Stocks gained yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), along with other European markets. The ASE compound share index closed at 4,210.14 points, a gain of 33.10 points or 0.79 percent. This is the highest close since May 11. The FTSE/ASE 20 index of blue chips gained 0.75 percent to close at 2,323.35 points, while mid- and small-caps gained 0.40 percent and 1.23 percent respectively. The FTSE/Athex International gained 0.69 percent, closing at 6,051.70 points. Thirteen of 17 sectoral indices gained. The exceptions were media (down 0.69 percent) health (0.59 percent), travel and leisure (0.38 percent) and technology (0.21 percent). Top gainers were insurance (up 1.63 percent), foods and beverages (1.52 percent) and raw materials (1.51 percent). Among blue chips, the biggest gainers were Bank of Cyprus (up 4.46 percent to 9.84 euros), Piraeus Bank (3.14 percent to 23 euros) and mobile telecommunications service provider Cosmote (2.50 percent to 20.50 euros). All three reached all-time highs. Other big gainers were bottler Coca-Cola HBC (1.96 percent to 26 euros), cement maker Titan (1.86 percent to 40.54 euros), refiner Motor Oil (1.71 percent to 20.28 euros) and ATEbank (1.53 percent to 3.98 euros). Turnover reached 306.45 million euros, including 30.81 million in prearranged trades.
