ATHEX: Morning slide contained at local bourse

The Greek stock market contained Wednesday’s morning losses to finish the session with a relatively small benchmark decline and with the mid-cap index on the rise. Investors continued to focus on banks, whose chips showed notable fluctuations during the course of the day.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 667.88 points, shedding 0.64 percent from Tuesday’s 672.19 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index contracted 1.24 percent to drop below 200 points, at 198.68. Mid-caps advanced 0.06 percent.

The banks index gave up 4.86 percent, while non-banking blue chips performed much better, with a significant number heading north. National Bank fell 8.16 percent and Alpha dropped 4.76 percent, but Piraeus Bank grew 4.65 percent and Eurobank added 4 percent. Folli Follie climbed 1.78 percent and Jumbo rose 1.61 percent, as OTE telecom slumped 2.89 percent.

In total 44 stocks posted gains, 52 took losses and 10 closed unchanged.

Turnover remained at low levels, amounting to 37.8 million euros, down from Tuesday’s 41.4 million.