Stocks slip 0.11 percent, but OTE edges higher

Index heavyweight OTE ended with mild gains yesterday, shortly before a key shareholders’ meeting to pick a new board for the former telecoms monopoly. OTE shares outperformed the rest of the market which slipped 0.11 percent to 2,384.35 points after directionless trade. «Stocks were directionless with investors largely on the sidelines as reflected by the low trading volume, ahead of OTE’s shareholders meeting,» said broker Costas Karydis at DF Securities. OTE’s shares, which had lost 2.82 percent on Tuesday, gained 0.58 percent to settle at 17.34 euros. «It was simply a light rebound after Tuesday’s sharp fall,» Karydis said. The FTSE/ASE index of blue chips ended off 0.32 percent at 1,287.53 points. Public Power Corporation (PPC) bucked the trend, adding 1.63 percent to 13.72 euros, after its inclusion in the FTSE/ASE index of mid-caps on Tuesday. The FTSE/ASE-40 index shed 0.27 percent with small-caps easing 0.37 percent. Total turnover was light at 92.62 million euros on volume of 15.5 million shares. Decliners beat advancers 185 to 116 with 58 shares unchanged on 359 traded. (Reuters)