ATHEX: Blue chips ease while turnover soars

Although Alpha Bank has drawn the attention of many foreign traders to the Greek stock market, the latter remained fairly subdued on Tuesday, with the benchmark losing ground on the OPAP dividend distribution and the OTE telecom decline.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 869.72 points, shedding 0.47% from Monday’s 873.87 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index contracted 0.76% to end up at 2,098.93 points, though mid-caps expanded 0.57%.

Alpha once again stole the show, as after its early losses, which exceeded 3%, the foreign buyers started flowing in, following the stock’s entry into the MSCI Global Standard Index, leading it to close 1.20% higher, with its daily turnover topping a quarter of a billion euros.

The banks index rose 0.78%, also thanks to National’s 3.22% advance, while Piraeus parted with 2.11%. OPAP fell 6.15% and OTE gave up 2.08%.

In total 48 stocks secured gains, 54 sustained losses and 23 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to €315.7 million, up from Monday’s €109.4 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange decreased 0.32% to close at 64.89 points.