Stocks end sharply lower

Stocks ended sharply lower at the Athens Stock Exchange as investors took profits in bank shares after Alpha Bank rejected National Bank’s friendly merger offer. The composite index fell 2.73 pct to end at 1,668.25 points, with turnover a strong 258.66 million euros. The Big Cap index dropped 3.05 pct, the Mid Cap index ended 2.20 pct down and the Small Cap index fell 4.11 pct.

The Insurance index (1.01 pct) was the only sector to end higher, while Financial Services (6.28 pct), Raw Materials (5.30 pct) and Chemicals (4.49 pct) suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day. Alpha Bank (5.01 pct), Titan (1.44 pct) and National Bank (0.40 pct) were top gainers among blue chip stocks, while ATEbank (11.70 pct), Hellenic Postbank (10.19 pct) and Piraeus Bank (10.16 pct) were top losers. Broadly, decliners led advancers by 131 to 48 with another 49 issues unchanged. CPI (18.75 pct), Mohlos (10 pct) and Eurobrokers (9.84 pct) were top gainers, while Intrakat (19.37 pct), ATEbank (11.70 pct) and Proton Bank (11.11 pct) were top losers.

Sector indices ended as follows:
Insurance:	+1.01%
Industrials:	-2.48%
Commercial:	-0.77%
Construction:	-0.77%
Media:	-1.66%
Oil & Gas:	-2.10%
Personal & Household:	-1.03%
Raw Materials:	-5.30%
Travel & Leisure:	-2.19%
Technology:	-4.14%
Telecoms:	-4.38%
Banks:	-3.25%
Food & Beverages:	-3.74%
Health:	-3.12%
Utilities:	-0.82%
Chemicals:	-4.49%
Financial Services:	-6.28%

The stocks with the highest turnover were Alpha Bank, National Bank, Piraeus Bank and Eurobank.

Selected shares from the FTSE/ASE-20 index closed in euros as follows:
Alpha Bank:	5.03
ATEbank:	0.83
Public Power Corp (PPC):	12.84
HBC Coca Cola:	19.92
Hellenic Petroleum:	7.58
National Bank of Greece:	7.60
EFG Eurobank Ergasias:	4.80
OPAP:	15.66
OTE:	7.43
Bank of Piraeus:	1.68
Titan:	16.23