Small recovery for stocks after recent sell-off

A slight improvement in the coalition government’s poll ratings and in its chances to gather the votes needed for a president to be elected later this month following positive statements by a number of independent deputies, has started to shift the mood on the local market after last week’s sell-off, leading to a small recovery on Monday.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 836.41 points, growing 1.45 percent from Friday’s 824.49 points, though it had posted mid-session gains of up to 2.97 percent. The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 index expanded 1.64 percent to end at 270.11 points.

The departure of foreign funds such as Capital Group and Euro Pacific – which had significant stakes in Eurobank (down 3.33 percent on Monday) – underscores the negative impact of political turmoil on the market, sending its own message to undecided deputies.

OTE telecom (up 5.81 percent) and Aegean Airlines (5.42 percent) stood out among blue chips for their gains, while Viohalco gave up 4.71 percent.

In total 76 stocks posted gains, 41 showed losses and 18 remained unchanged.

Turnover came to 88.4 million euros, down from last Friday’s 140.2 million.