Mid-caps help index post marginal gains
The Greek bourse was unable to track the rise of major Western markets yesterday and posted just a marginal rise at the end of the session, although it had temporarily seen much healthier gains during trade. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 3,943.87 points yesterday from 3,941.45 points on Tuesday, a rise of 0.06 percent. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index fell by a tiny 0.03 percent, reaching 2,041.80 points. The mid-cap FTSE/ATHEX 40 index grew by a significant 1.41 percent, while the small-cap FTSE/ATHEX 80 index rose by 0.84 percent. The FTSE/ATHEX International gained 0.17 percent to 5,432 points. Postal Savings Bank led blue chips with gains of 4.11 percent, followed by Piraeus Bank (up 1.16 percent) and Bank of Cyprus. The biggest losses were for power utility PPC (down 1.86 percent), Intralot (1.78 percent) and National Bank (0.62 percent). All but two sectoral indices headed north, led by commerce (up 2.63 percent), chemicals (2.39 percent) and insurance (2.22 percent). Utilities continued their drop (down 1.44 percent), given PPC’s fall. Turnover amounted to 278.9 million euros, of which 35.9 million euros concerned block trades. The Cypriot General Market Index rose by 0.56 percent, reaching 2,877.58 points.
