Banks drag index lower in market with few buyers
Stocks ended off 0.04 percent yesterday, as first-quarter profit concerns kept banks in the red, while oil groups outperformed on hopes of a positive end to Hellenic Petroleum’s search for a partner. «Selling pressure eased in banks from recent days due to first-quarter profit concerns but there was not enough buying interest to drive the market higher,» said Antonis Kouleimanis, a trader at Devletoglou Securities. «There was a better picture in telecoms after a favorable UBS Warburg report,» he said. Banks ended off 0.15 percent, while the Athens bourse’s benchmark general index eased 0.04 percent to 2,200.41 points. National Bank fell 0.76 percent to 20.96 euros and Alpha Bank lost 1.45 percent to 16.30 euros. Telecoms reversed earlier gains to end off 0.01 percent. Cellular operator Panafon gained 0.35 percent to 5.66 euros, while rival CosmOTE slipped 1.71 percent to 9.20 euros. The FTSE/ASE-40 index of mid-caps fell 0.25 percent and small-caps on the FTSE/ASE-80 shed 0.54 percent. Total turnover was 62.53 million euros on volume of 12.9 million shares. (Reuters)
