Fresh decline for stocks led by most blue chips
Stocks continued their slide yesterday to close the week with significant losses, while trading in the stocks of OTE and Cosmote were suspended due to the pending decision on the latter’s buyout by the former. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index was down 1.53 percent, closing at 5,148.13 points yesterday from 5,228.19 points on Thursday. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index shrank by 1.82 percent, reaching 2,738.40 points. The mid-cap FTSE/ATHEX 40 index declined by 1.48 percent, while the small-cap FTSE/ATHEX 80 index fell by 1.31 percent. The FTSE/ATHEX International was down 1.78 percent to 7,321.02 points. The only blue chip to register gains was PPC (up 0.30 percent), while leading the losers were Bank of Cyprus (down 5.51 percent), EFG Eurobank (4.23 percent), Marfin Popular Bank (3.83 percent), Motor Oil (2.43 percent) and Postal Savings Bank (2.34 percent). All sectoral indices moved southward except for chemicals, which were virtually unchanged (up 0.01 percent). The biggest losses were for technology (down 2.51 percent), petroleum (2.36 percent), banks (2.35 percent) and raw materials (2.20 percent). Turnover rose to -834.85 million, of which -379.88 million involved block trades.
