Correction gathers speed across the board
Greek stocks accelerated their southbound course for the fifth consecutive session yesterday, spurred by a negative mood on the larger European markets. The ratio of decliners to winners was 10 to 1. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index dropped 1.70 percent to 4,608.61 points, totaling 4.04 percent in the last five sessions. The blue chip FTSE/ASE 20 index was down 1.79 percent, the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 also ended 1.79 percent lower and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 tumbled 3.08 percent. Public Power Corporation (PPC) was the only blue chip that stayed afloat, edging 0.28 percent higher. By contrast, construction company Hellenic Technodomiki sank 3.99 percent after recent impressive gains. Bank of Cyprus slumped 3.94 percent; Postal Savings Bank shed 3.41 percent. ATEbank was 3.36 percent lower and OTE telecoms lost 3.19 percent. Viohalco and Piraeus Bank were down more than 2 percent. Raw materials shed the most among sectoral indices, 3.10 percent, closely followed by insurance and technology. Utilities and chemicals were the only two that edged higher. Turnover rose to -551.4 million, of which -155.5 million was accounted for by chemicals firm Neochimiki and National Bank.
