ASE stocks recapture 2,300-point mark
Firmer banks pulled equities above 2,300 points yesterday with Hellenic Petroleum failing to score gains after reporting strong first-quarter earnings growth. The Athens benchmark general index firmed 0.19 percent to 2,302.83 points after drifting for most of the session in negative territory. The bourse’s FTSE/ASE-20 blue chip index gained 0.10 percent to 1,221.81 points, with banks ending 0.19 percent higher. «The market looks to have run out of fuel. It’s in need of more news flow and this could come from the remaining first-quarter results,» said analyst Thanassis Ipirotis at Devletoglou Securities. Telecoms gained 0.06 percent with index heavyweight OTE Telecom, due to report first-quarter results tomorrow, ending flat at 17.40 euros. Hellenic Petroleum slipped 0.65 percent to 6.12 euros. Mid-caps gained 0.37 percent and small-caps added 0.15 percent. Turnover was 84.50 million euros on volume of 17.6 million shares. (Reuters) Deposit rates
