ATHEX suffers worst week in two years

The Athens stock market ended its worst week in the last two-and-a-half years with a mixed session, as the banks index halted its slide but the benchmark posted additional losses, albeit minimal. Although gains registered during the course of the day created the impression that the main index might end the week with a rise, it was not to be as sellers got the upper hand again in the end.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 687.79 points, the lowest since April 2017, shedding 0.14 percent from Thursday’s 688.77 points. On a weekly basis it gave up 5.73 percent, the sharpest decline since February 2016.

The large-cap FTSE-25 index fell 0.43 percent to 1,798.96 points, but mid-caps added 0.56 percent.

The banks index ended its six-day losing streak with a 0.17 percent advance. Piraeus expanded 1.96 percent and National climbed 0.56 percent, as Alpha fell 0.21 percent and Eurobank conceded 0.45 percent. Lamda Development ascended 2.33 percent on strong first-half results, but Viohalco slumped 2.10 percent.

In total 43 stocks posted gains, 42 registered losses and 28 remained unchanged.

Turnover was 35.6 million euros, down from Thursday’s 61.8 million.

In Nicosia the Cyprus Stock Exchange general index grew 0.32 percent to close at 74.27 points.