Blue chips rebound on upbeat markets, reports
Greek stocks saw an across-the-board rebound after two straight losing sessions yesterday, bolstered by a positive mood in foreign markets and favorable reports for local banks. The ATHEX general index closed at 4,836.84 points, a rise of 0.95 percent, with blue chips recording the strongest gains. The FTSE/ATHEX 20 improved 1.16 percent to close at 2,587.78 points, while mid-caps and small-caps went up 0.23 percent and 1.01 percent respectively. The FTSE/ATHEX International gained 1.02 percent, closing at 6,888.31 points. Most of the 17 sectoral indices ended in positive territory, led by petroleum which was 1.93 percent higher. Emporiki Bank outperformed among blue chips, surging 4.43 percent. Folli-Follie advanced 2.64 percent, Bank of Cyprus added 2.60 percent, Hellenic Petroleum was up 2.33 percent, Public Power Corporation gained 2.07 percent and National Bank 1.91 percent. OTE, Motor Oil, Cosmote, Alpha Bank and Eurobank also headed north. By contrast, Postal Savings, Titan, OPAP, Intralot, Hellenic Technodomiki and Coca-Cola HBC ended lower. Turnover fell to -352.25 million, including -83.51 million in prearranged trades. Analysts said the fact that a number of stocks with not very sound fundamentals have shown signs of awakening after lagging behind for a long time is a matter of concern.
