Mid- and small-caps make up for lost ground
Greek stocks bucked trends elsewhere in Europe yesterday to continue their rebound, with mid-caps and small-caps stealing the show from blue chips. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index ended 0.76 percent higher at 4,758.79 points. The blue chip FTSE/ASE 20 index added 0.42 percent, the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 gained 1.66 percent and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 ended up 1.22 percent. Metals group Viohalco outperformed among blue chips, climbing 6.24 percent. Betting systems firm and operator Intralot advanced 3.67 percent, construction company Hellenic Technodomiki continued its recent hefty gains by adding 2.93 percent, Titan cement went up 2.51 percent to an all-time high of -46.52, Motor Oil gained 1.97 percent and Public Power Corporation closed 1.84 percent higher. OTE telecom and mobile subsidiary Cosmote, banks Alpha and National, and Hellenic Petroleum also ended higher. By contrast, Folli-Follie, OPAP, Coca-Cola HBC and banks Emporiki, Piraeus and Cyprus headed south. Among the lower capitalizations, Varvaressos climbed 17.44 percent to -1.01, while Forthnet surged 13.13 percent to -12.06 after Merrill Lynch raised its target price to -16. Turnover totaled -477.3 million, of which -178.4 million was accounted for by National Bank, OTE and OPAP.
