Stocks drop in tandem with foreign markets
The negative climate on international stock markets overturned the generally positive picture of the Greek bourse yesterday, with stocks eventually recording significant losses at closing. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index was down 1.15 percent, closing at 5,166.55 points from 5,226.62 points on Wednesday. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index declined by 1.23 percent, reaching 2,735.34 points. The mid-cap FTSE/ATHEX 40 index lost 0.97 percent, while the small-cap FTSE/ATHEX 80 index fell by 1.14 percent. The FTSE/ATHEX International was down 1.18 percent to 7,341.91 points. Apart from the stocks of PPC (up 0.51 percent) and Intralot (0.13 percent), all blue chips move southward, led by Hellenic Petroleum (down 2.79 percent), Viohalco (2.35 percent), Coca-Cola HBC (2.20 percent), OPAP (2.16 percent) and Hellenic Technodomiki TEV (2.06 percent). Mid-caps showed greater resistance to pressure from abroad. All but two sectoral indices posted losses, with the worse news for petroleum (down 2.28 percent), industrial products and services (2.21 percent), mass media (1.92 percent) and food and drink (1.76 percent). The only gainers were insurance (up 0.29 percent) and utilities (0.22 percent). Turnover rose to -470.98 million, of which -57.17 million was in block trades.
