‘January effect’ said to be hitting the bourse
Profit-taking across the board – but centering on blue chips – led Greek stocks lower yesterday, in line with major bourses abroad. Analysts said markets are coming under the so-called «January effect» which depresses prices, adding that they are likely to rebound but this will be a more arduous process, given the gains of the last three years. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index was down 0.91 percent at 4,634.20 points. The blue chip FTSE/ASE 20 shed 0.87 percent, the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 lost 1.10 percent and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 ended 0.76 percent lower. Betting systems provider Intralot outperformed other blue chips, recouping part of Monday’s heavy losses by surging 6.08 percent after the company said it was confident its Turkish subsidiary would not lose a sports betting license after an adverse court ruling. Motor Oil added 2.09 percent, while National Bank, OTE telecom and Titan cement managed to stay afloat. By contrast, Bank of Cyprus and OPAP shed more than 3 percent, while Cosmote and Postal Savings Bank were down more than 2 percent. Piraeus Bank lost 1.87 percent. Just two of the 17 sectoral indices headed north, chemicals (higher 1.17 percent) and oil and gas (0.81 percent). Health was down 3.02 percent. Turnover totaled -422.85 million.
