As banks slide, interest shifts to small-caps
Greek stocks edged lower, in line with bourses abroad, yesterday, after trimming initial losses and with trade thinning further. Interest shifted to small-caps. The Athens Stock Exchange general index was down 0.24 percent at 4,688.67 points. Construction firm Hellenic Technodomiki was the blue chip outperformer, with gains of 1.98 percent, followed by Motor Oil, up 1.88 percent. Postal Savings Bank added 1.34 percent, Viohalco was 1.09 percent higher and Coca-Cola HBC added 1.02 percent. Folli-Follie and banks Alpha and ATE also gained. By contrast, Intralot continued slipping, shedding 2.39 percent, followed by Cosmote and all major banks – Cyprus, Piraeus, Eurobank, Emporiki and National. The Public Power Corporation, Hellenic Petroleum, gaming firm OPAP Titan cement also headed south. The blue chip FTSE/Athex 20 index slipped 0.28 percent, the FTSE/Athex Mid 40 edged up 0.05 percent and the FTSE/Athex Small Cap 80 advanced 1.05 percent. Sectoral indices gave a mixed picture, with no single one changing more than 1 percent. Financial services added 0.80 percent and travel & recreation shed 0.96 percent. Turnover totaled 386.3 million euros, of which 112.4 million was accounted for by banks National and Piraeus.
