Insurance firms lead in losses

All four sessions on the Athens Stock Exchange last week ended with losses. As a result, the composite price index lost 67.44 points, or 2.83 percent, from a week earlier, to close at a year low of 2,316.78 on Friday. Trading volume rose significantly to a still weak 514.51 million euros, a daily average of 128.63 million. All Financial Times indices fell, with the FTSE/ASE-20 of blue chips sustaining the biggest loss at 3.35 percent. The mid-cap FTSE/ASE-40 fell 3.12 percent and the FTSE/ASE-80 index of small-caps fared relatively better, falling 2.89 percent. All sectoral indexes ended with losses. The biggest losses were sustained by insurance (6.80 percent), retail commerce (4.65 percent) and publishing and printing (4.54 percent). Telecom firms sustained the least losses (1.12 percent). Of the 368 stocks traded, 319 fell, 35 gained and 14 remained unchanged. The biggest beneficiaries of the week were Rainbow Computer (23.86 percent) and the newly listed Galaxidi Sea Farm (16.67 percent). The biggest losers were Dias Fisheries (26.73 percent) and Euroconsultants (18.34 percent). Alpha Bank was the most heavily traded stock, with a daily average value of 23.41 million euros.