Mid-caps outperform as market rally continues
Stocks gained yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), with investors favoring medium-capitalization companies this time around. The ASE compound share index closed at 4,317.59 points, a gain of 10.62 points or 0.25 percent. During the session, it reached a high of 4,336.03 points. The FTSE/ASE 20 index of blue chips gained 0.19 percent to close at 2,388.09 points, while mid-caps and small-caps gained 1.36 percent and 0.31 percent respectively. The FTSE/Athex International gained 0.38 percent, closing at 6,220.68 points. Twelve of 17 sectoral indices gained. The top gainers were financial services (up 4.10 percent), technology (2.09 percent) and personal and household goods (1.18 percent). The biggest losers were foods and beverages (down 0.89 percent) and oil and gas (0.74 percent). Among blue chips, significant gains were posted by technology holding company Intracom (up 3.01 percent to 5.48 euros), jewelry and accessories maker and retailer Folli-Follie (2.52 percent to 26.04 euros), ATEbank (2.03 percent to 4.02 euros) and Alpha Bank (1.99 percent to 24 euros). Many mid-caps also posted big gains, led by Hellenic Exchanges (8 percent). Turnover reached 327.49 million euros, including 43.47 million in prearranged trades.
