Blue chips hit hardest in market correction
Stocks declined yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), as investors continued to lock in short-term gains, especially in blue chips. The ASE compound share index closed at 4,271.36 points, a drop of 43.54 points or 1.01 percent. The FTSE/ASE 20 index of blue chips declined 1.12 percent to close at 2,358.54 points, while mid-caps and small-caps declined 0.51 percent and 0.38 percent respectively. The FTSE/Athex International declined 1.01 percent, closing at 6,131.71 points. Fourteen of 17 sectoral indices declined. The exceptions were foods and beverages (up 1.01 percent), travel and leisure (0.95 percent) and utilities (0.10 percent). The biggest losers were telecommunications (down 2.59 percent) and technology (2.23 percent). Among blue chips, significant gains were posted by Emporiki Bank (up 2.51 percent to 23.70 euros), betting firm OPAP (1.55 percent to 28.74 euros) and bottler Coca-Cola HBC (1.43 percent to 28.40 euros). Significant losses were sustained by refiner Hellenic Petroleum (down 3.55 percent to 10.28 euros), telecommunications firm OTE (3.22 percent to 20.42 euros) and technology holding company Intracom (2.93 percent to 5.30 euros). Turnover reached a total of 302.80 million euros, including 39.43 million euros in prearranged trades.
