Most stocks rise but index drops
Most stocks on the Greek bourse continued their rise yesterday, although the decline of some blue chips sent the market’s main index lower. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index shrank to 2,271.07 points yesterday, falling by 0.19 percent from Monday. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index contracted by 0.46 percent to end at 1,167.76 points. Investors chose to reap their gains from the growth of previous sessions and proceeded to sell their blue chips, as buying interest in the rest of the market remained strong: The mid-cap index grew by 1.59 percent and the small-cap by 1.55 percent. The biggest rise among blue chips was for Marfin Investment Group (up 3.78 percent) and Piraeus Bank (2.70 percent). Worst off were National Bank (down 2.91 percent) and OPAP (2.83 percent). Turnover reached 185.8 million euros.