Athens Stock Exchange hits 14-year low

Greek stocks came under strong pressure in the Athens Stock Exchange on Monday, hit by a negative climate prevailing in other European markets caused by worries over fiscal developments in the Eurozone and reports that Portugal would be forced to enter the EU/IMF support mechanism. The composite index of the market fell to the lowest levels since early 1997, breaking strong support levels. The index fell 2.60 pct to end at 1,345.63 points, with turnover at 96.931 million euros.
The Big Cap index dropped 3.50 pct, the Mid Cap index ended 2.93 pct lower and the Small Cap index ended 4.18 pct down. OPAP (3.09 pct) and OTE (0.74 pct) were the only blue chip stocks to end higher, while Eurobank (9.72 pct), Hellenic Postbank (8.09 pct), Alpha Bank (8.08 pct) and National Bank (6.62 pct) were major losers.

    The Banks (6.56 pct), Health (5.48 pct) and Chemicals (5.42 pct) sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day, while Travel (2.60 pct) and Telecoms (0.74 pct) scored gains. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 126 to 31 with another 45 issues unchanged. Byte Computer (10 pct), Balkan Export (6.52 pct) and Elfico (6.45 pct) were top gainers, while Sato (20 pct), Allatini Ceramics (18.60 pct) and Centric Multimedia (15.38 pct) were top losers.





ANA-MPA