Disrupted session ends in year low for index
In one of the worst days ever for the Athens bourse, stocks closed with major losses, while industrial action and technical problems forced it to operate for only a few hours. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at the lowest levels so far for 2008 at 4,053.06 points from 4,133.03 points on Friday, a drop of 1.93 percent. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index fell by 2.58 percent, reaching 2,075.89 points. The mid-cap FTSE/ATHEX 40 index declined by 2.64 percent, while the small-cap FTSE/ATHEX 80 index posted a drop of 0.91 percent. The FTSE/ATHEX International was down 2.59 percent to 5,545.20 points. The biggest gainers yesterday among blue chips were the stocks of Public Power Corporation (up 1.77 percent), OTE (0.98 percent) and Coca-Cola HBC (0.89 percent). Losers were led by Bank of Cyprus (down 7.71 percent), Marfin Investment Group (5.96 percent), Marfin Popular Bank (5.57 percent), Motor Oil (4.97 percent) and Hellenic Petroleum (4.09 percent). Most sectoral indices headed south, led by petroleum (down 4.31 percent), while telecommunications gained 0.97 percent. Turnover managed to reach -297.5 million, of which just -7.7 million concerned block trades. The Cypriot General Market Index declined by a massive 6.32 percent to 3,111.36 points.
