Blue chips lift index higher despite weak banks
Selective blue chip buying helped lift the Athens bourse into positive territory yesterday, while lingering concerns on first-quarter bank earnings kept the sector in the red. «Selling pressure in banks from foreign investors eased. « This was important, as in previous sessions the pressure in banks dragged the rest of the market lower,» said Annie Triantafyllou, head analyst at National Securities. The banking index shed 0.62 percent after an early session bounce quickly lost steam. The Athens benchmark general index gained 0.10 percent to 2,169.65 points. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue chips firmed 0.07 percent to 1,138.07 points. Coca-Cola gained 1.89 percent to 15.12 euros and telecoms equipment-maker Intracom rose 1.71 percent to 8.32 euros. The FTSE/ASE-40 index of mid-caps rose 0.09 percent and small-caps on the FTSE/ASE-80 fell 0.33 percent. Turnover was 78.36 million euros on volume of 16.1 million shares. Losers beat winners 162 to 152, with 52 stocks unchanged on 360 traded. (Reuters) Piraeus Bank has assigned information technology firm Infoquest the task of updating and servicing its computer network throughout Greece, including telecommunications facilities.
