Rush to sell blue chips makes ASE odd man out
Stocks declined significantly yesterday on the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), bucking the trend in other European markets, as investors aggressively sold blue chips. The ASE composite share price index closed at 4,153.69 points, a drop of 45.42 points or 1.08 percent. Earlier in the session, it had fallen as low as 4,133.64 points. The FTSE/Athex 20 index of blue chips declined 1.39 percent to close at 2,238.49 points, while mid- and small-caps declined 0.31 percent and 1.57 percent respectively. The FTSE/Athex International index declined 1.17 percent, closing at 5,790.18 points. Blue chips that bucked the trend included refiner Motor Oil (up 3.73 percent to 25 euros), electronics retailer Germanos (0.71 percent to 14.04 euros), refiner Hellenic Petroleum (0.81 percent to 12.48 euros) and technology holding company Intracom (0.93 percent to 6.52 euros). By contrast, significant losses were sustained by metals group Viohalco (down 4.82 percent to 8.30 euros), Alpha Bank (3.96 percent to 30.54 euros), ATEbank (3.77 percent to 5.10 euros) and technology holding company Intracom (2.76 percent to 6.34 euros). Out of 312 traded shares, 57 gained, 214 declined and 41 ended unchanged. Turnover reached 411.64 million euros, including 24.49 million in prearranged trades.
