Third straight day of gloom on stock market
The slide continued yesterday on the Greek stock market, with new pressures on stocks, mostly from abroad, but the short-term future appears brighter as the international climate is starting to improve. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index declined by 1.11 percent to 4,846.64 points yesterday from 4,901.27 points on Friday. The FTSE/ATHEX 20 blue chip index fell by 1.15 percent to 2,578.61 points. The FTSE/ATHEX Mid-40 shed 0.61 percent and the FTSE/ATHEX 80 small-cap index dropped 1.66 percent. The FTSE/ATHEX International declined by 1.08 percent to close below the 7,000-point mark, at 6,944.74 points. Intralot (up 2.95 percent) and Alpha Bank (higher 0.50 percent) posted gains, but other blue chips saw their stocks decline further, led by Titan (down 3.54 percent), Coca-Cola HBC (2.94 percent), National Bank (2.51 percent), Motor Oil (2.23 percent), Postal Savings Bank (2.04 percent) and Cosmote (2 percent). Even Piraeus Bank, which yesterday announced high first-half profits, declined by 1.62 percent. All sectoral indices recorded losses, with chemicals suffering the greatest (down 2.24 percent). Construction declined by 2.06 percent and food and drinks by 2.02 percent. Turnover came to -482.83 million, with -55.48 million in block trades.
