Market unable to sustain early gains
Equities fell 0.47 percent yesterday to a new year-low, unable to track rebounding European markets, with banks continuing to lose ground on third-quarter earnings concerns. Brokers said the market’s early rebound left investors unmoved as international uncertainty and the threat of war with Iraq continued to weigh on sentiment. «We had a good start but sellers came out across the board, putting pressure on the market, fearing more downside,» said fund manager Yiannis Markakis at P&K Asset Management. Telecoms added 0.90 percent led by strong gains in index heavyweight OTE Telecom. The Athens benchmark general index dropped 0.47 percent to 1,737.04 points. Blue chips on the FTSE/ASE-20 index fell 0.65 percent to 865.00 points. Mid-caps dropped 2.06 percent and small-caps, 0.92 percent. Turnover was 69.81 million euros on 21.8 million shares traded. Losers beat winners 282 to 43 while 34 shares were unchanged on 359 traded. (Reuters)
