Bourse index course stays northeastern

The warning issued by the Bank of Greece on Tuesday about the risk of more nonperforming loans accumulating this year deprived bank stocks of the momentum of other blue chips in yesterday’s bourse session, with stocks showing once again a mixed picture and trading volume staying at disappointingly low levels.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 569.16 points, adding 0.56 percent to Tuesday’s 566 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded 0.30 percent to end at 1,532.34 points.

A late rally by National Bank at the closing auctions saw it reap gains of 1.61 percent, leading the banks index to a 0.50 percent increase. Eurobank climbed 0.76 percent and Alpha grabbed 0.58 percent, but Piraeus declined 1.34 percent.

The significant interest expressed by four companies in the tender for the sale of power grid operator ADMIE boosted the PPC stock by 6.64 percent. Viohalco followed with a 4.62 percent increase and Aegean Air rose 3.79 percent. Metka lost 2.16 percent.

In total 38 stocks registered gains, 43 sustained losses and 16 remained unchanged.

Turnover was the lowest of the last seven sessions, amounting to just 25.3 million euros, down from Tuesday’s 31.8 million.

In Nicosia the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange advanced 0.12 percent to close at 66.28 points.