Index retains 4,000 pts mark on bank rebound
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) benchmark index dropped for a sixth day yesterday, declining 0.5 percent, after recouping much of its initial losses and managing to retain a threshold at the closing, at 4,003.79 points. The FTSE/ATHEX 20 index of the country’s biggest companies fell 0.1 percent to 2,103.91 points. Banks rebounded after several days, rising 0.1 percent. The following stocks were among the most active in the Greek market yesterday. Folli-Follie fell 4.1 percent to 17.16 euros, the biggest decline since March 3, after the shares were cut to «sell» from «hold» at Deutsche Bank AG. OPAP added 1.8 percent to 26.68 euros, its highest close since January. Greece’s sports-betting monopoly said on Monday that first-quarter profit jumped 45 percent to 208.5 million euros on increased sales from its two biggest games. Public Power Corporation lost 2.7 percent to 25 euros, its lowest close since March. Greece’s biggest electricity producer said profit fell 27 percent in the first quarter, after record oil prices and a labor strike boosted the cost of fuel and energy imports. National Bank rose 1.2 percent, Eurobank was 0.7 percent higher and Piraeus Bank added 0.5 percent. Turnover totaled 318.7 million euros. (Kathimerini, Bloomberg)