Bank stock decline carries index along

After several days of gains, declining bank stocks dragged the main index as well as most other blue chips south on the Greek bourse on Thursday. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended the day at 792.44 points, declining by 0.46 percent from Wednesday’s closing level of 796.10 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index gave up 0.97 percent to close at 335.01 points, although the mid-cap index added 0.77 percent and small-caps gained 1.41 percent. Piraeus Bank lost 8.69 percent and Bank of Cyprus shed 6.59 percent, while Marfin Investment Group bucked the trend, adding 10.22 percent. In total, 75 stocks registered gains, 91 posted losses and 26 remained unchanged. Turnover amounted to 89.9 million euros, down from Wednesday’s 167.6 million.