Stocks head south for a fourth day
Late-session buying helped to trim losses on the Athens stock exchange yesterday, as the market shed 0.21 percent, ending in the red for a fourth straight day. The Athens bourse’s benchmark general index closed at 1,560.08 points, after dipping to an intrasession low of 1,536 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index slipped 0.53 percent to end at 753.36 points. Lottery systems operator Intralot fell 2.01 percent to 2.92 euros after announcing that it had won an IT contract in Lithuania, its first foothold in the Baltic region. Intralot said it will provide Internet platforms and interactive games to Lithuania’s top lottery operator, Olifeja. Cement company Titan bucked the trend, adding 1.79 percent to end at 14.25 euros. The company yesterday inaugurated a cement plant in Albania, an investment of some 200 million euros. Banks retreated 1.39 percent. National Bank dropped 1.29 percent to 9.18 euros and peer Piraeus retreated 1.05 percent to 3.76 euros. Alpha Bank ended at 5.17 euros, off 0.96 percent. OTE telecom fell 2.68 percent to 5.80 euros and Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling jumped 2.86 percent to 19.80 euros. Turnover reached 95.3 million euros versus 84.6 million in the previous session.
