Athens bourse slips 1.5 percent
The Athens Exchange benchmark index fell to its lowest in almost a week yesterday, losing 63.63 points, or 1.5 percent, to 4,113.55. The FTSE/ASE 20 index of the country’s biggest companies dropped 1.7 percent to 2,189.96 points. OTE telecom slid 50 cents, or 2.7 percent, to 18.10 euros, its biggest decline in almost three weeks. Bulgaria said it will auction a fourth wireless license next month that will increase competition for OTE’s unit there. Piraeus Port Authority climbed -2.58, or 9.6 percent, to -29.50, advancing for a second day after Cosco Pacific Ltd bid -4.3 billion ($6.6 billion) to acquire the container operations at the port for 35 years. Cosco’s bid beat an offer by a group led by Hutchison Port Holdings. Turnover totaled -291.9 million. (Bloomberg)