Blue chip sell-off leads to significant slump
Blue chip buyers cashed in on recent gains, putting significant pressure on Greek stocks yesterday. The general index of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) lost 1.57 percent of its value, tumbling from 4,718.10 points on Monday to 4,644.10 points at yesterday’s close. The FTSE/ASE 20 blue chip index declined 1.85 percent to close at 2,491.96 points. However, some buying interest in mid-caps limited the losses of the FTSE/ASE 40 index to just 0.26 percent, as the FTSE/ASE 80 smallcap index fell by 0.83 percent. The FTSE/Athex International closed at 6,614.81 points, 1.59 percent lower than on Monday. All blue chips moved southward, led by Hellenic Technodomiki TEV (down 2.99 percent), which was followed by Cosmote (2.60 percent), EFG Eurobank (2.59 percent), Coca- Cola HBC (2.57 percent), Titan (2.41 percent), National Bank (2.32 percent), Alpha Bank (2.14 percent) and OTE (2.03 percent). Only three sectoral indices stayed afloat. They were commerce (up 0.68 percent), raw materials (0.40 percent) and healthcare (0.26 percent). The biggest decline was in the insurance index (down 2.11 percent), closely followed by telecommunications (2.05 percent) and construction (1.97 percent). Turnover came to 406.469 million euros, including 112.651 million euros in prearranged trades.
