Investors take gains; PPC drops
Greek stocks lost ground yesterday, ending a three-session winning streak, as profit-taking in blue chips dragged the market nearly 2 percent lower. The Athens bourse’s benchmark general index fell 1.81 percent to 1,745.30 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index retreated 2.22 percent to 857.88 points. Power company PPC plunged 6.27 percent to 13 euros after jumping more than 6 percent on the previous session. Banks dropped 2.41 percent, trimming gains in the last month to 39.7 percent. National Bank ended at 11.77 euros, off 2.73 percent, and Eurobank shed 3.08 percent to 6.30 euros. Energy and metals company Mytilineos tumbled 5.21 percent to 4.91 euros despite posting a stronger-than-expected first-half net profit of 39.7 million euros late on Wednesday. Geniki Bank, which said earlier this week that first-half losses grew to 214 million euros from 36.2 million last year, jumped 6.38 percent to 0.50 euros. Proton Bank also ranked among the winners, adding 10 percent to 1.43 euros. Turnover reached 107.5 million euros versus 86.7 million in the previous session.
