Rush for bank stocks propels ASE higher
Stocks gained significantly yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), confounding expectations, as investors went after bank stocks. The ASE composite share index closed at 4,518.80 points, a gain of 69.16 points or 1.55 percent. On a weekly basis, it declined 0.83 percent. It has gained 2.84 percent since January 1. The FTSE/ASE 20 index of blue chips gained 1.91 percent to close at 2,434.55 points, while mid- and small-caps gained 0.55 percent and 0.84 percent respectively. The FTSE/ASE International gained 1.70 percent, closing at 6,444.15 points. Eleven out of 17 sectoral indices gained. The top gainers were food and beverages (up 4.22 percent), media (3.69 percent) and banks (2.78 percent). The top losers were commerce (down 0.95 percent), travel and leisure (0.88 percent) and insurance (0.54 percent). Among blue chips, the top gainers were bottler Coca-Cola HBC (up 5 percent to euro 31.50), National Bank (4.24 percent to euro 39.84), metals group Viohalco (3.75 percent to euro 10.50), construction group Hellenic Technodomiki (3.54 percent to euro 11.10), Alpha Bank (3.02 percent to euro 21.84) and EFG Eurobank (2.17 percent to euro 29.14). Turnover reached euro 424.82 million, including euro 47.33 million in prearranged trades.
