ATHEX: Turnover soars, but prices drop
The targeted profit-taking, the December “triple witching” and the FTSE index rebalancing led to a significant increase in turnover on Friday, which appears to be the exception in a significantly quiet month. Most stocks headed lower, with the benchmark coming off a 14-week high, though mid-caps headed higher.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,290.79 points, shedding 0.35% from Thursday’s 1,295.37 points. On a weekly basis it advanced 1.23%.
The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.44%, ending at 3,120.73 points, but mid-caps expanded 0.41%.
The banks index declined 0.39%, as Alpha dropped 1.03% and National eased 0.80%, while Piraeus augmented 0.62% and Eurobank inched up 0.06%. EYDAP slumped 5.17% and Quest Holdings sank 2.68%, but Ellaktor collected 4.29%.
In total 38 stocks notched up gains, 67 suffered losses and 23 remained unchanged.
Turnover amounted to 177.3 million euros, almost half of it coming in the last few minutes (the closing auctions), up from Thursday’s €112.4 million.
In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.25% to 135.47 points.
