Stocks claw back bulk of early losses

Black Tuesday’s sell-off continued during early trade on Wednesday at the Athens bourse, with the benchmark down more than 4 percent at one point. However, most stocks managed to contain their losses, and gains by some of the previous day’s biggest losers, including MIG and PPC, limited the damage to a drop of just 1 percent at the end of the session.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 893.71 points, shedding 1.01 percent from Tuesday’s 902.84 points. The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 index contracted 1.24 percent to end at 288.53 points, while small-caps lost just 0.07 percent.

Bank stocks recovered from early losses of 7 to 10 percent to close the day with their sectoral index 2.64 percent lower.

Public Power Corporation expanded 5.17 percent, Viohalco rose 2.99 percent, Aegean Airlines grew 2.70 percent and Marfin Investment Group added 2.63 percent, while Motor Oil gave up 3.98 percent, Eurobank dropped 3.81 percent and both Piraeus Bank and Piraeus Port Authority shed 3.57 percent.

In total 39 stocks reported gains, 77 sustained losses and 17 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 169.2 million euros, down from Tuesday’s 212 million.