Index slips slightly while Petrola soars
Stocks ended the week weaker, with OTE retreating after the feel-good glow of its first-quarter results rubbed off. Refiner Petrola advanced 15.91 percent to 4.08 euros, a 52-week high, on talk that it was close to a deal with Hellenic Petroleum, the country’s biggest refiner. After the close of trade, the government announced it will get 326 million euros from the sale of 16.65 percent of Hellenic to the Latsis Group and then merge the group’s Petrola with Hellenic. Hellenic rose 4.14 percent to 6.04 euros, while the Athens benchmark general index eased 0.28 percent to 1,707.54 points. It gained almost 1 percent in the week. Blue chips fell 0.44 percent to 843.28 points, while mid-caps rose 0.07 percent and small-caps fell 0.87 percent. Turnover rose to 161.36 million euros from Thursday’s 103.12 million euros, as 31.4 million shares changed hands. Decliners led advancers 190 to 105. (Reuters)
