Eurobank, Alpha help bourse rise
Strong buying interest in Alpha Bank and Eurobank EFG yesterday, amid rumors about changes in their share ownership, turned a rather subdued bourse session into a day of gains for indices and blue chips. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,610.83 points, growing by 1.53 percent from Wednesday’s close at 1,586.62 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index expanded by 1.75 percent yesterday to end at 785.80 points. The financial news from abroad is not very encouraging and foreign markets are set to apply more pressure on the Greek market as of today, observers note. Alpha rose 7.31 percent and Eurobank 5.30 percent, followed by OTE telecom, up 2.42 percent, and OPAP, 2.25 percent. Worst off among blue chips was Hellenic Petroleum, which gave up 1.65 percent. National Bank dropped 0.51 percent. A total of 85 stocks went up, 87 headed down and 50 remained unchanged. Klonatex led the gainers with a 16.67 percent rise, while Hellas Online had the biggest losses of all (down 20 percent). Turnover came to 105.1 million euros, down from 169 million in Wednesday’s session.
