ATHEX: Banks index rises as other stocks slide

The Greek bourse saw stocks head lower on Friday as a result of pressure on international securities markets over the last couple of days. Trading volume was the lowest in the last four sessions.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 875.38 points, shedding 1.25 percent from Thursday’s 886.44 points, but on a weekly basis it slipped just 0.31 percent.

The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 1.23 percent to 2,228.64 points.

The banks index remained afloat, adding 0.10 percent due to continuing optimism over the upcoming stress tests. That also explains the index’s weekly growth of 3.58 percent. Piraeus improved 2.74 percent on Friday and Alpha rose 0.48 percent, while National dropped 1.05 percent and Eurobank conceded 0.98 percent.

There were also losses for PPC (3.64 percent), Motor Oil (3.28 percent), and Titan Cement (3.27 percent). Hellenic Exchanges added 0.35 percent.

In total 37 stocks registered gains, 76 sustained losses and 28 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 72.5 million euros, down from Thursday’s 122.6 million.

In Nicosia the Cyprus Stock Exchange general index advanced 0.92 percent to 70.30 points.