US job figures trigger stock fall
News of the sharp decline in jobs in the US that broke late in the day forced blue chips lower on the Greek bourse yesterday despite early gains. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index came to 1,892.29 points yesterday, shrinking by 1.11 percent from Thursday’s closure. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index dropped by 1.49 percent to 982.44 points. Mid-caps posted some growth with more stocks eventually going up and small-caps displayed a slight decline. National Bank stood out for its 3.17 percent losses, followed by Hellenic Postbank (down 2.56 percent) Marfin Investment Group (2.55 percent), and Coca-Cola HBC (2.09 percent). ATEbank led gainers with a 2.86 percent growth, ahead of Hellenic Petroleum (1.75 percent), Motor Oil, Eurobank EFG and Viohalco. Turnover reached 126 million euros.
