Bourse ends week on low note
The negativity of the last few days regarding the Greek economy, in terms of debt and election worries, resulted in a fresh decline on the Athens bourse yesterday. Moreover, the spread between the yield of the Greek benchmark 10-year bond and that of the German Bund widened further, reaching 830 basis points. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed yesterday at 1,547.43 points, dropping by 1.93 percent from Wednesday’s close at 1,577.89 points. On a weekly basis, the index contracted by 3.63 percent. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index shrank by 2.31 percent to end at 747.98 points. Leading losing blue chips were Alpha Bank (down 6.48 percent), Eurobank EFG (5.32 percent), Piraeus Bank (4.35 percent) and National Bank (2.72 percent). The only blue chips to post a rise were state gaming company OPAP (up 3.59 percent), Hellenic Petroleum (0.70 percent), Titan cement (0.20 percent) and Public Power Corporation (0.08 percent). There were 47 stocks heading up, 123 going down and 46 remaining unchanged. Atti-Kat SA led gainers with a 10 percent rise, while Vell Group was the worst off with a 12 percent loss. Turnover came to 156.2 million euros, up from Wednesday’s 124.3 million euros.
