Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-10-27

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Weather Forecast-Saturday

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates-Monday

[03] Commercial Bank-Cyprus expansion

[04] ASE-weekly review

[05] ASE-close

[01] Weather Forecast-Saturday

Cloudy weather is forecast on Saturday, turning rainy in many parts of the country. Winds variable, moderate to very strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 4C to 19C; on the rest of the mainland and the Ionian from 9C to 20C; and in the Aegean islands from 12C to 20C. Cloud and showers in Athens, with temperatures between 11C and 20C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 8C to 19C.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates-Monday

Indicative rates released by the central bank for the next working day.

Monday's rates (buying)

Euro 336.844

U.S. dollar 404.825

German mark 172.225

French franc 051.352

Pound sterling 580.598

Irish punt 427.703

Belgian franc 008.350

Luxembourg franc 008.350

Dutch guilder 152.853

Italian lira (100) 017.397

Austrian schilling 024.480

Danish kroner 045.265

Swedish kroner 039.577

Finnish mark 056.653

Spanish peseta 002.025

Portuguese escudo 001.680

Japanese yen (100) 373.528

Swiss franc 223.190

Norwegian kroner 042.418

Cyprus pound 588.355

Canadian dollar 265.043

Australian dollar 210.398

[03] Commercial Bank-Cyprus expansion

Commercial Bank of Greece plans to create a new bank in Cyprus in cooperation with Cyprus listed Glory Worldwide Holdings.

The new bank will aim to acquire 5.0 percent of the island's banking market through the immediate launch of 15 branches in the first 12 months, with a goal of reaching 45 in the first five years.

Commercial Bank will own 51 percent of the new bank's equity capital, Glory Worldwide Holdings will have a 45 percent stake and Paraskevaidis Group will have a 4.0 percent stake.

Commercial Bank will control the bank's administration. The two partners plan to list the new financial institution to the Cyprus Stock Exchange.

Commercial Bank operates a network of four branches in Cyprus.

[04] ASE-weekly review

The week under review on the Athens Stock Exchange clearly showed that the Greek bourse was steadily transforming into a two-tier market with a gap between the market's 10-15 blue chip stocks and smaller capitalisation stocks growing worryingly.

Analysts said the market was showing a "virtual reality", with the general index supported at the 3,700-3,750 level, due to a limited buying interest for blue chip stocks, but the vast majority of stock shares were suffering losses on a daily basis.

Traders said a total of 90-100 shares were suffering losses in each session, falling to their lowest levels since early 1999, reflecting a fall in the general index to the 3,000 level.

The general index, is now 250 points higher since late August, but several stock shares have lost 40 percent of their value over that period.

Analysts said a rally in the US dollar's rate in international foreign exchange markets would benefit Greek stocks by making their prices extremely attractive.

The Greek bourse's capitalisation has fallen by 35 percent since the start of the year.

The general index ended the week 24.47 points, or 0.64 percent, lower. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended the week 0.40 percent higher, while the FTSE/ASE 40 index fell by 5.45 percent.

The week's turnover totalled 278.2 billion drachmas for a daily average of 55.64 billion, down from 63.82 billion the previous week.

[05] ASE-close

Equity prices ended the last trading session of a subdued week lower on the Athens Stock Exchange on Friday, undermined by extremely low liquidity and lack of buying interest for blue chip stocks.

The general index ended 0.26 percent lower at 3,762.97 points, off teh day's highs of 3,808.18 points, with turnover a low 46.912 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.18 percent lower at 2,195.79 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index ended at 431.11 points, up 0.29 percent.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks rose 0.04 percent to end at 400.44 points.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article