Profit-taking in banks takes toll
Selling orders made a strong return to the local bourse yesterday after the positive mood of Monday that had seen stocks go up. Banks were once again the focus of profit-taking. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,052.77 points yesterday, declining by 1.83 percent from Monday’s close at 2,090.94 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index contracted by 2.31 percent to end at 1,040.35 points. There were gains for the blue chips of Public Power Corp (up 2.33 percent) and Hellenic Postbank (1.88 percent). Worst off were EFG Eurobank (down 4.93 percent), National Bank (4.56 percent), Alpha Bank (4.34 percent) and Piraeus Bank (3.96 percent). Turnover amounted to 183.9 million euros, down from 237 million euros on Monday.
