Stocks gain slightly, but banks drop

The Athens Stock Exchange posted mild gains on low turnover Wednesday, but underperformed European markets, which bounced bank after the Italian government watered down a plan for a windfall tax on banks.

The ASE general index closed at 1,317.18 points, up 0.46%, on turnover of €65.65 million. Blue chips gained 0.38% and mid-caps 0.15%, while banks declined 0.26%.

Cosmetics firm Sarantis outperformed all blue chips, rising 5.42%, followed by refiner Motor Oil (2.68%) and construction group GEK Terna (2.02%). Helleniq Energy, Quest and OPAP advanced more than 1%, while Alpha Bank and construction group Ellaktor dropped more than 1%.

MSCI’s update of its Greek indices is awaited Thursday. Morgan Stanley expects Piraeus Bank to be added to the MSCI Standard index.