Marginal losses for local stocks
Losses in small-caps weighed heavily on the local bourse yesterday, sending the main index lower on a day when the principal support for blue chips came from Bank of Cyprus and National Bank shares, which accounted for 48 percent of all turnover. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,542.62 points yesterday, contracting 0.39 percent from Monday’s close at 1,548.70 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index shrank 0.26 percent to end at 754.99 points, while the small-cap FTSE/ATHEX 80 index lost 0.70 percent. The mid-cap FTSE/ATHEX 40 index grew 0.55 percent. Bank of Cyprus led blue chips with gains of 3.80 percent, followed by Marfin Investment Group (up 2.33 percent), National Bank (1.12 percent) and Jumbo (1.10 percent). Going down were OPAP (2.67 percent), Eurobank EFG (2.53 percent), Ellaktor (2.47 percent) and Piraeus Bank (2.22 percent). A total of 60 stocks went up, 93 headed down and 64 remained unchanged. Medical diagnostics business Medicon led the gainers, reaching the 20 percent limit, while Ilektroniki Athinon posted the biggest losses (down 14.08 percent). Turnover came to 108.9 million euros, up from Monday’s 85.3 million.
