Bank shares pull ASE down

Stocks eased further at the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday, hit by a significant drop in bank shares. The general index lost 3.15 pct to close at 911.07, as it flirted with the 900-point level throughout the session.
Turnover was an improved 61.30 million euros.
The Big Cap index dropped 4.19 pct, the Mid Cap index ended 2.45 pct lower and the Small Cap index dropped 4.65 pct.

Insurances (8.11 pct) followed by a distant Constructions (0.57 pct) posted the biggest percentage gains of the day, while Technology (-7.64 pct), Banks (-6.56 pct) and Financial Services (-5.90 pct) recorded the biggest losses of the day.

Indicatively, the share price for Hellenic Postbank decreased by 10.07 pct; National Bank lost 9.01 pct; Piraeus Bank 7.58 pct; Alpha Bank 5.95 pct and Eurobank was down 5.58 pct.
Broadly, advancers trailed decliners by 31 to 116 with another 32 issues remained unchanged.

Sector indices ended as follows:
Insurance:  +8.11%
Industrials: -1.98%
Commercial: -0.57%
Construction: +0.57%
Media: Unchanged
Oil & Gas: +0.29%
Personal & Household: -1.68%
Raw Materials: -2.73%
Travel & Leisure: -5.48%
Technology: -7.64%
Telecoms: -4.31%
Banks: -6.56%
Food & Beverages: +0.18%
Health: -5.63%
Utilities: -4.40%
Chemicals: -4.29%
Financial Services: -5.90%

The stocks with the highest turnover were National Bank, Folli Follie and OPAP.

Selected shares from the FTSE/ASE-20 index closed in euros as follows:
Alpha Bank: 2.37
Public Power Corp (PPC): 5.86
HBC Coca Cola: 14.55
Hellenic Petroleum: 5.34
National Bank of Greece: 3.23
EFG Eurobank Ergasias: 2.03
OPAP: 8.50
OTE: 4.00
Bank of Piraeus: 0.61
Titan: 12.90

Foreign Exchange rates – Wednesday
Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank:
U.S. dollar 1.467
Pound sterling 0.889
Danish kroner 7.561
Swedish kroner 9.241
Japanese yen 112.38
Swiss franc 1.158
Norwegian kroner 7.925
Canadian dollar 1.447
Australian dollar 1.397