Stocks end significantly lower

Stocks suffered significant losses for the second consecutive session at the Athens Stock Exchange on Wednesday, remaining under pressure after S&P’s downgrade the country’s credit rating by two notches on Tuesday.

A warning by Fitch over a possible new downgrade was an additional negative factor in the market. The composite index fell 1.34 pct to end at 1,558.57 points, with turnover remaining at 111.77 million euros. The Big Cap index fell 1.78 pct, the Mid Cap index eased 0.55 pct and the Small Cap index ended 0.38 pct down.

Cyprus Bank (3.17 pct), PPC (1.82 pct) and Hellenic Postbank (0.89 pct) were top gainers among blue chip stocks while Alpha Bank (5.25 pct), OPAP (4.22 pct), Viohalco (4.14 pct) and Piraeus Bank (3.40 pct) were top losers.

Utilities (1.42 pct), Health (1.05 pct) and Financial Services (0.72 pct) scored gains, while Travel (4.04 pct), Telecoms (2.44 pct), Raw Materials (2.21 pct) and Banks (2.07 pct) suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 88 to 60 with another 54 issues unchanged. AXON Holdings (15.48 pct), Alpha Trust (9.89 pct) and Electroniki Athens (9.52 pct) were top gainers, while Euromedica (17.10 pct), Lazaridis (9.76 pct) and Nutriart (9.52 pct) were top losers.

Sector indices ended as follows:
Insurance:
-1.51%
Industrials:
-1.57%
Commercial:
+0.30%
Construction:
-1.05%
Media:
-0.93%
Oil & Gas:
-0.04%
Personal & Household:
-1.55%
Raw Materials:
-2.21%
Travel & Leisure:
-4.04%
Technology:
-1.21%
Telecoms:
-2.44%
Banks:
-2.07%
Food & Beverages:
+0.66%
Health:
+1.05%
Utilities:
+1.42%
Chemicals:
Unchanged
Financial Services:
+0.72%

The stocks with the highest turnover were National Bank, DEH, OPAP and Alpha Bank.

Selected shares from the FTSE/ASE-20 index
closed in euros as follows:
Alpha Bank:
4.69
ATEbank:
0.74
Public Power Corp (PPC):
12.31
HBC Coca Cola:
19.19
Hellenic Petroleum:
7.45
National Bank of Greece:
6.28
EFG Eurobank Ergasias:
4.48
OPAP:
15.90
OTE:
8.00
Bank of Piraeus:
1.42
Titan:
17.60