Weak telecoms cancel out strong banks
Soft telecoms outweighed mild bank gains yesterday, leading the Athens bourse marginally lower as the market digested better-than-expected first-half results from some of the country’s larger banks. «There was selective institutional buying with strong bids in banks after the better-than-expected results,» said analyst Yiannis Markakis at National Securities. The benchmark general index eased 0.10 percent to 2,124.96 points after dipping to an intrasession low of 2,116 points. Blue chips on the FTSE/ASE-20 index firmed 0.03 percent to 1,090.64 points while telecoms eased 0.57 percent. Mid-caps on the FTSE/ASE Mid-40 slipped 0.21 percent with small-caps on the FTSE/ASE Small-Cap 80 trading 0.16 percent lower. Losers beat winners 177 to 123 while 62 shares were unchanged on 362 traded. Turnover was 65.59 million euros on volume of 11.9 million shares. (Reuters)
