Assault on 4,400 points put off until next year
Greek stocks edged higher in the last trading session of the year in continued thin trade yesterday, but failed to keep an intra-session yearly high. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index was 0.13 percent higher at 4,394.13 points, with blue chips failing to keep pace with mid-caps and small-caps. The FTSE/ASE 20 index slipped 0.03 percent, the FTSE/ASE Mid 40 gained 0.12 percent and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 ended 0.10 percent higher. Few efforts for dressing up valuations in view of the end of the year were observed toward the end of the session. Among blue chips, Intralot outperformed with gains of more than 3 percent, closing at an all-time high of 26.50 euros. Hellenic Petroleum added 1.95 percent; ATEbank was 1.04 percent higher and Piraeus Bank gained 0.91 percent to an all-time high of 24.42 euros. Banks Emporiki, Eurobank and Marfin were also higher; Coca-Cola HBC, Titan and Folli-Follie likewise. Postal Savings Bank and OTE were stable. In contrast, banks Alpha, National and Cyprus, Viohalco, Public Power Corporation, Cosmote, Motor Oil and OPAP ended less than 1 percent lower. Turnover totaled 167.23 million euros. Technical analysts consider surmounting 4,405 points will bolster the index to climb even higher.
