Profit-taking in blue chips leads ASE lower
Blue chips led the Greek stock market south yesterday, out of line with most other European bourses. Mid- and small-caps edged up and down respectively. The Athens Stock Exchange general index slid 0.46 percent to 4,673.45 points. The blue chip FTSE/ASE 20 was down 0.58 percent, the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 added just 0.03 percent and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 slipped 0.16 percent. Construction group Hellenic Technodomiki outperformed among blue chips for the second day in a row, advancing 2.45 percent. Piraeus Bank continued advancing with gains of 1.25 percent and Coca Cola HBC was 0.94 percent up. Intralot and Cosmote also headed north, while Eurobank and Public Power Corporation were unchanged. By contrast, Bank of Cyprus came under pressure, shedding 2.25 percent, gaming firm OPAP dropped 2.17 percent, Alpha Bank was 1.74 percent down and OTE lost 1.14 percent. Eleven of the 17 sectoral indices ended in negative territory, led by technology (down 2.12 percent). Banks were down 0.46 percent. Financial services led winners, adding 1.74 percent. Utilities were unchanged. Turnover rose to -368.92 million, of which -81.8 million was accounted for by banks National and Marfin Popular.
