Stocks rise again; telecoms outperform
Telecom stocks rallied more than 3 percent yesterday, buoyed by rebounding European markets, with index heavyweight OTE jumping 4 percent after a protracted slide on earnings concerns. The bourse’s telecoms index jumped 3.62 percent, while the Athens benchmark general index ended with gains of 2.36 percent at 1,879.50 points. While telecom stocks leapt, bank stocks underperformed, ticking up 1.56 percent. «Banks are underperforming because compared to their European peers their profits and fundamentals are not that attractive,» said head analyst Costas Vergos at Pentedekas Securities. Blue chips on the FTSE/ASE-20 index rose 2.24 percent to 951.29 points. Mid-caps rose 1.67 percent and small-caps gained 2.43 percent. Turnover was 94.06 million euros with 25.5 million shares changing hands. Winners beat losers 293 to 47, while 22 shares were unchanged on 362 traded. (Reuters)
