Stocks rise in sleepy session
Stocks notched up some moderate gains yesterday amid low turnover on the Athens bourse as investors appeared cautious and for many the summer vacations are fast approaching. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) closed at 3,410.15 points yesterday, a moderate 0.23 percent rise from last Friday. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index grew by 0.18 percent to 1,884.20 points. Titan cement outperformed among blue chips with growth of 2.40 percent, ahead of OTE telecom (up 2.27 percent), Viohalco (2.24 percent) and Coca-Cola HBC (2.17 percent). On the losing side were Mytilineos (down 2.76 percent), Public Power Corporation (2.37 percent) and Alpha Bank (2 percent). Mytilineos later announced it bought 39,000 of its own shares at 7.79 euros each. Turnover reached 138.4 million euros, the third lowest of 2008.
