Blue chips reverse the trend of general index
The rise of the Athens Exchange continued amid international euphoria, despite some losses at the start of yesterday’s session. This time it was blue chips pulling the indices higher to another seven-year record. However, stocks moving southward outnumbered gainers by approximately two to one. Rebounding from intra-session losses of up to 0.63 percent, the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed 0.23 percent higher at 4,936.14 points yesterday from 4,924.68 points on Wednesday. The FTSE/ATHEX 20 blue chip index gained 0.19 percent, closing at 2,645.91 points. In contrast, the FTSE/ATHEX Mid-40 shrank by 0.10 percent to 6,227.64 points and the FTSE/ATHEX 80 small-cap index declined by 0.38 percent, ending at 1,059.17 points. The FTSE/ATHEX International earned 0.14 percent to close at 7,044.02 points. Cosmote once again outperformed among blue chips with a 2.60 percent rise. Other gainers were Hellenic Petroleum (higher 1.58 percent), Coca-Cola HBC (1.56 percent), Titan cement (1.13 percent), National Bank (1.07 percent) and ATEbank and OPAP (1.00 percent each). Sectoral indices had a mixed picture, with health (up 1.80 percent) and petroleum (1.07 percent) ending highest, while mass media and chemicals had the biggest losses (less 1.78 percent each). Turnover totaled -353.8 million, including -38 million in prearranged trades.
