Lack of confidence curtails early gains
Greek stocks managed to stay afloat yesterday, after shedding considerably higher gains in mid-session trading. The rebound was in line with other European bourses but not in magnitude, as investors stayed cautious. The general index closed 0.17 percent higher at 4,892.51 points after rising as much as 0.85 percent earlier, the FTSE/ATHEX 20 blue chip index rose 0.11 percent, the FTSE/ATHEX Mid-40 was up 0.39 percent and the FTSE/ATHEX 80 small-cap index gained 0.94 percent. The FTSE/ATHEX International moved 0.16 percent higher. Coca-Cola HBC outperformed among blue chips, climbing 3.06 percent, Titan cement firm advanced 2.30 percent, Postal Savings Bank added 1.66 percent, Motor Oil was 1.31 percent higher and Viohalco gained 1.27 percent after heavy losses on Wednesday. Intralot, Eurobank, OPAP and banks Emporiki, National and Cyprus also headed north. By contrast, Public Power Corporation slumped 2.48 percent and Alpha Bank shed 1.23 percent. Banks ATE, Piraeus and Marfin Popular, Hellenic Petroleum, Hellenic Technodomiki and Cosmote also ended in negative territory, while OTE was unchanged. Turnover came to -334.64 million, of which -33.47 million was in block trades. OTE and National Bank accounted for -93.4 million.
