ASE rebounds from eight-session slide
Strong gains in the soccer pools and lottery organization, OPAP, helped lift stocks higher yesterday, as the market rebounded from an eight-session slide. OPAP jumped 9.76 percent to 9.0 euros after it got shareholder approval for a 0.60 euros total per share dividend for fiscal year 2001. «There was buying on its attractive dividend yield while the stock seems to have drawn the attention of foreign players,» said a broker. The 2001 dividend translates into a yield of 6.6 percent, based on yesterday’s closing price. The Athens bourse benchmark general index rose 0.87 percent to 2,198.55 points, ending the week overall off 1.18 percent or 26.45 points. The bourse’s FTSE/ASE-20 blue chip index advanced 0.32 percent to 1,143.28 points. Mid-caps added 0.35 percent and small-caps rose 0.53 percent. Turnover was 105.91 million euros on 21.0 million shares traded. Winners beat losers 201 to 97 while 58 shares were unchanged on 356 traded. (Reuters) Softex
