ATHEX: Moderate fall for majority of stocks

Traders chose to cash in on recent stock gains at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday, while banks that have been oversold in recent days headed the other way, posting some notable increases that were in line with the majority of the other European stock markets. The benchmark remained well clear of the 900-point bar ahead of the Epiphany recess, with the local market reopening on Friday morning.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 905.70 points, shedding 0.26% from Tuesday’s 908.08 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.20%, ending at 2,176.72 points, though the banks index expanded 0.88% on Eurobank adding 2.48%, Alpha earning 0.56% and Piraeus growing 0.46%. National eased 0.72%.

Among the other blue chips, ElvalHalcor advanced 1.81%, Titan Cement rose 1.60% and Quest Holdings collected 1.47%, just as OTE telecom gave up 1.37%.

In total 49 stocks registered gains, 61 sustained losses and 14 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 42.3 million euros, down from Tuesday’s €47.9 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.27% to close at 67.85 points.