Bourse reacts to good news from abroad
Equities broke a four-session losing streak yesterday, rebounding 1.17 percent as battered blue chips rallied, with Commercial Bank recovering after sliding to a four-year low this week. Commercial Bank climbed 4.42 percent to 16.08 euros, while the Athens benchmark general index gained 1.17 percent to 1,792.45 points. On the week, the bourse lost 4.8 percent, or 90.48 points, falling below the 1,800-point support level on Thursday as concerns about banks’ nine-month earnings precipitated a sharp fall. «We were influenced by the positive data in the USA and European bourses, which is why the market held up nicely toward the end,» said trader Nikos Diamantopoulos at Kappa Securities. Blue chips on the bourse’s FTSE/ASE index ended 1.25 percent higher at 896.03 points. Mid-caps firmed 0.37 percent and small-caps, 0.77 percent. Turnover eased to 60.93 million euros. Winners beat losers 189 to 107 while 62 shares were unchanged on 358 traded. (Reuters)
