Mid-caps benefit from caution with blue chips
Greek stocks edged lower in much thinner trade yesterday, affected by a particularly guarded attitude among investors, indicating a lack of direction. Buying interest was mainly focused on mid-caps. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) general index ended 0.26 percent lower at 4,544.74 points. The blue chip FTSE/ASE 20 index fell 0.43 percent, the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 rose 0.28 percent higher and the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 shed 0.52 percent. Among blue chips, the largest gainers were Folli-Follie, up 2.66 percent, Hellenic Petroleum, which advanced 2.32 percent, Viohalco, which added 2.22 percent, ATEbank, which ended 2.04 percent higher, and with OPAP and Intralot gaining 1.82 percent and 1.81 percent respectively. Alpha Bank and Hellenic Technodomiki also headed north. By contrast, Coca- Cola HBC shed 2.84 percent, cement maker Titan lost 2.00 percent, Postal Savings Bank ended 1.99 percent lower, Bank of Cyprus declined 1.61 percent and bellwether National Bank slid 1.01 percent. Banks Emporiki, Eurobank and Piraeus all ended lower, along with Cosmote and Public Power Corporation. Retail led sectoral indices with a gain of 1.78 percent, while food and beverages were 1.25 percent lower and banks down 0.60 percent. Turnover fell to 327.12 million, of which 110.5 million was accounted for by banks National and Alpha, and OPAP.
