Major rise takes index above 4,900 points
A strong rise across the board helped most stocks close the week on a high, bolstered by good corporate news and favorable reports by foreign investment firms. Registering a 1.49 percent rise, the Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index reached the highest level of the last 19 sessions, closing at 4,912.53 points from 4,840.53 points on Thursday. The FTSE/ATHEX 20 blue chip index grew by 1.44 percent to 2,620.70 points. The FTSE/ATHEX Mid-40 gained 1.74 percent and the FTSE/ATHEX 80 small-cap index expanded by 0.61 percent. The FTSE/ATHEX International moved up by 1.45 percent to close at 7,014.82 points. All but two blue chips posted gains yesterday, led by Viohalco (up 7.20 percent), Motor Oil (5.26 percent), Emporiki Bank (3.75 percent), Hellenic Technodomiki TEV (3.21 percent), OTE (3 percent) and Bank of Cyprus (2 percent). The only losers were Titan and Hellenic Petroleum, which both declined by 0.39 percent. Apart from chemicals, which fell by 0.99 percent, all sectoral indices posted gains. Industrial products outperformed, rising by 3.70 percent, followed by raw materials (up 2.95 percent) and telecommunications (2.42 percent). Turnover came to -366.07 million, of which -38.98 million involved block trades.
