Placements, optimism abroad fuel rebound
Blue chips maintained the rebound of Greek stocks yesterday, in the midst of returning optimism in foreign markets on US May inflation data, after the successful placement of 10.7 percent of OTE telecom to institutionals on Thursday and in view of the planned 15 percent placement of Postal Savings Bank. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index was up 0.97 percent at 4,843.78 points. The FTSE/ATHEX 20 blue chip index gained 0.89 percent, with hefty support from banks and telecoms. The FTSE/ATHEX Mid-40 ended 0.70 percent higher, while the FTSE/ATHEX 80 small-cap index was unchanged. The FTSE/ATHEX international index added 0.83 percent. Marfin Popular bank led blue chip winners by adding 2.81 percent, Cosmote advanced 2.20 percent, Emporiki Bank climbed 2.38 percent, Coca-Cola HBC added 2.16 percent, Postal Savings Bank was 2.13 percent higher, Piraeus Bank gained 2.11 percent, Hellenic Petroleum gained 1.88 percent, Titan was up 1.71 percent, Public Power Corporation was 1.46 percent higher and National Bank added 1.39 percent, including -1.25 billion in block trades, of which -1.1 billion was accounted for by OTE’s placement of 52.4 million shares at 21.40 euros per share. Analysts said the placement effectively put an end to the search for a strategic investor for OTE.
