Stocks tumble to new depths
Further aggressive selling on the Athens bourse forced local stocks to new lows for the year, with the market’s total capitalization shedding 109.6 billion euros in 2008. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,255.25 points yesterday, declining by a considerable 5.30 percent from Wednesday. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index contracted by 5.82 percent to end at 1,238.38 points. Just three blue chips registered gains: Mytilineos rose by 2.72 percent, Public Power Corporation grew by 1.30 percent and Marfin Investment Group increased by 0.97 percent. The leading losers were Titan (down 12.94 percent), Alpha Bank (9.47 percent), National Bank (9.17 percent), Piraeus Bank (7.51 percent) and EFG Eurobank (6.33 percent). Turnover reached 277.5 million euros.
