Optimism stops a breath away from 5,000 pts
Helped by an upbeat mood in foreign markets, Greek stocks continued their climb yesterday, with utilities and financial services stocks gaining the most. Maturing September futures added to volatility. The benchmark Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed 0.49 percent higher, just a breath away from 5,000 points, at 4,996.48. Mid- and small-caps continued showing strength. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index rose by 0.34 percent to 2,656.94 points, while the mid-cap and small-cap indices increased by 1.02 percent and 0.76 percent respectively. The FTSE/ATHEX International was up 0.43 percent. Public Power Corporation outperformed among blue chips, advancing 3.10 percent to yet another historic high of -25.30, Postal Savings Bank advanced 2.36 percent, Titan climbed 2.15 percent and Cosmote added 1.95 percent. OTE, Hellenic Petroleum and Eurobank also showed vigor, followed by Hellenic Technodomiki, Intralot, Motor Oil and banks Alpha, Emporiki and Cyprus. In contrast, Coca-Cola HBC continued declining from recent historic highs, followed by Viohalco, OPAP and banks National and Piraeus. Marfin Popular and ATEbank were unchanged. Turnover reached -529.34 million, of which -152.81 million was in block trades.
