Mid-, small-caps join in retaking of 5,000 points
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) yesterday broke again through the 5,000-point barrier after 41 sessions, without any substantial encouragement from other European bourses where the picture was mixed. Buying interest was strong, especially in mid- and small-caps. The insurance sectoral index outperformed. The benchmark Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed 0.57 percent higher, at 5,024.85. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index ended 0.33 percent higher at 2,665.75 points, while the mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 1.05 percent and 1.59 percent respectively. The FTSE/ATHEX International was up 0.46 percent. ATEbank outperformed among blue chips, advancing 2.60 percent to -3.94, Intralot climbed 2.58 percent on news of further expansion in South Africa, OTE was 2.43 percent higher and Coca-Cola HBC added 2.36 percent. Public Power Corporation reached a new historic high of -25.60, and was followed north by banks Piraeus, Postal Savings, Emporiki and Marfin Popular, along with Hellenic Petroleum, Motor Oil and OPAP. By contrast, Cosmote declined 1.33 percent, while Viohalco, Titan and banks Alpha, Eurobank, National and Cyprus all shed less than 1 percent. Hellenic Technodomiki ended unchanged. Turnover rose to -600.49 million, of which -326.27 million was in block trades, most of it accounted to Marfin Popular Bank.
