Stocks dip on weak blue chips
Greek stocks lost ground yesterday on weak blue chips, underperforming soft performances on major European bourses. The Athens bourse’s benchmark general index shed 0.68 percent to 1,492.67 points, remaining range-bound between 1,470 and 1,580 points. The bourse gave up 0.3 percent for the week. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index retreated 0.80 percent to end at 706.65 points. Power company PPC, scheduled to unveil third-quarter earnings figures on Wednesday, dropped 0.73 percent to 12.16 euros. Brokerage firm National Securities said in a note that its expects «mixed results» from PPC with net profit forecast to fall 8.6 percent year-on-year to 153 million euros. Eurobank EFG shed 3.57 percent to 4.05 euros, while National Bank gave up 1.39 percent to 7.08 euros. Fourlis, the Greek franchisee for furniture maker IKEA, jumped 4.24 percent to 6.15 euros. Fourlis, which is to unveil third-quarter figures Tuesday, is expected to report net income of 5.8 million euros, down from 9.7 million euros in the same period last year, according to Proton Securities. Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) also outperformed, rising 4.44 percent to 12.69 euros. Turnover reached 73.6 million euros, versus 98.7 million previously.
