Stock market slips as investors collect gains
Stocks declined yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange, as investors continued to lock in short-term gains. The ASE compound share index closed at 4,314.90 points, a drop of 16.19 points or 0.37 percent. On a weekly basis, the index gained 1.27 percent, extending the gains since the start of the year to 17.77 percent. The FTSE/Athex 20 index of blue chips declined 0.43 percent to close at 2,385.25 points, while mid-caps and small-caps declined 0.67 percent and 1.35 percent, respectively. The FTSE/Athex International declined 0.48 percent, closing at 6,194.33 points. Twelve out of 17 sectoral indices declined. The biggest gainers were foods and services (1.01 percent), personal and household goods (0.60 percent) and utilities (0.60 percent). The biggest losers were travel and leisure (1.72 percent), financial services (1.43 percent) and media (1.29 percent). Among blue chips, significant gains were posted by jewelry and accessories maker and retailer Folli-Follie (2.01 percent to 25.40 euros) and bottler Coca-Cola HBC (1.67 percent to 28 euros). The top losers were betting company OPAP (1.74 percent to 28.30 euros) and refiner Motor Oil (1.66 percent to 20.16 euros). Turnover reached 335.50 million euros, including 32.23 million in prearranged trades.
