ASE follows Euro bourses, drops 1.39 pct
Equities fell yesterday as losses on European bourses bore down on heavyweights such as OTE Telecom and Alpha Bank to lead the Athens bourse 1.39 percent lower. Analysts said first-half earnings reports from Greek companies had failed to convince investors of a market revival. «We saw an extension of the profit-taking mood the bourse was in on Friday and given the recent rally in prices of OTE and Alpha and the gloomy mood on European bourses, investors booked profits,» said one analyst. OTE fell 2.21 percent to 14.16 euros, while Alpha shed 2.98 percent to 14.34 euros. The general index ended at 2,099.56 points. The FTSE/ASE-20 index of blue-chip stocks fell 1.52 percent to 1,070.65 points. Mid-caps slipped 0.68 percent, with small-caps losing 1.04 percent. Turnover was 70.59 million euros on 15 million shares traded. Losers beat winners 225 to 84, while 42 shares were unchanged on 351 traded. (Reuters)
