Bourse strengthens on blue chip rebound
Equities ended the week on a positive note yesterday as late-session blue chip buying gave the market a boost, with bottler Coca-Cola HBC (CCHBC) scoring more gains after positive nine-month results. The Athens benchmark general index gained 1.14 percent to 1,830.54 points, off the day’s high of 1,832 points. Over the week, the general index lost five points. Mid-caps gained 1.75 percent and small-caps rose 1.82 percent. Piraeus Bank outperformed the sector, adding 2.32 percent to 6.18 euros after it was included in MSCI’s Greece small-cap index. Banks rose 1.24 percent while telecoms gained 1.05 percent. Blue chips gained 1.17 percent to 900.82 points. Optimism returned that cellphone operator Vodafone Panafon will match local peers and provide better-than-expected first-half results later this month, boosting the share 2.35 percent higher. Turnover improved to 97.57 million euros from 75.40 million a day earlier, on 24.4 million shares traded. Winners beat losers 282 to 46, with 32 shares unchanged on 360 traded. (Reuters)
