Rumors of deals keep spurring mid/small-caps
Greek stocks rose to a new, 88-month high yesterday, in line with other European bourses. Mid-caps and small-caps outperformed, mainly on rumors of further impending deals. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index was up 0.62 percent at 5,118.51 points, the FTSE/ATHEX 20 blue chip index rose 0.58 percent, the FTSE/ATHEX Mid-40 advanced 1.16 percent and the FTSE/ATHEX 80 small-cap index advanced 1.11 percent. The FTSE/ ATHEX International gained 0.65 percent. Metals group Viohalco outperformed among blue chips, surging 4.13 percent, Hellenic Technodomiki climbed 2.10 percent, Public Power Corporation advanced 1.92 percent, National Bank added 1.65 percent to reach a new historic high of -45.70 and Emporiki Bank was 1.43 percent higher. Titan, ATEbank and Bank of Cyprus also headed north. Banks Postal Savings, Marfin Popular, Piraeus and Eurobank and Coca-Cola HBC were unchanged, while Cosmote, Motor Oil, OPAP and OTE ended in negative territory by less than a percentage point. IT firm Altec outperformed on UBS setting a price target of -3.2, followed by fish-farming firm Perseus on news of its 41 percent acquisition by Selonda. Technology stocks outperformed among sectoral indices, surging 6.27 percent. Turnover came to -530.66 million, with -87.79 million accounted for by block trades.
