Stocks reap moderate gains, led by blue chips
Greek stocks maintained only part of their intra-session gains, but at least they reversed the bearish mood of the last few days. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 3,924.37 points yesterday from 3,892.35 on Thursday, a rise of 0.82 percent. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index grew by 1.02 percent, reaching 2,026.40 points. The mid-cap FTSE/ATHEX 40 index increased by 0.58 percent, while the small-cap FTSE/ATHEX 80 index posted a rise of 0.68 percent. The FTSE/ATHEX International was up 0.94 percent to 5,404.29 points. The biggest gainers yesterday among blue chips were the stocks of Marfin Investment Group (up 8.04 percent), Postal Savings Bank (3.53 percent), OTE telecom (3.35 percent) and Coca-Cola HBC (3.12 percent). Leading losers were National Bank (down 2.86 percent) and Public Power Corporation (1.59 percent). Sectoral indices showed a mixed picture, with financial services leading the way with a 5.07 percent rise, while the utilities index posted the greatest losses (down 1.23 percent). Turnover amounted to -348.84 million, of which -35.65 million concerned block trades. The Cypriot General Market Index gained 0.25 percent reaching 3,084.54 points.
