Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-08-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[02] Consumer group sets up euro information centres

[03] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Friday

[04] Morgan Stanley's report push Greek stocks lower

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 371.673

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 540.229

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.412

Swedish kroner 35.706

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 310.252

Swiss franc 222.814

Norwegian kroner 041.998

Cyprus pound 590.288

Canadian dollar 240.642

Australian dollar 197.227

[02] Consumer group sets up euro information centres

A consumer group announced on Thursday that it had set up information bureaus on the euro, the single currency that will be introduced in physical form in euro zone members on January 1, 2002.

The INKA group said in a statement that the centres in Athens, Thessaloniki and the regions were supplemented by mobile units that travelled round the country informing the public of the switch in currency.

Consumers may also phone 1721 for information on the euro, the statement added.

[03] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Friday

Sunny weather is forecast on Friday, with scattered cloud in the west and north that may turn to showers or storms in the northwest. Early morning visibility will be limited. Winds northwesterly, light to moderate. On the northern mainland, temperatures will range from 17C to 31C; on the rest of the mainland from 20C to 34C; and in the islands from 22C to 32C. Sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 23C and 34C. Scattered cloud in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 21C to 30C.

[04] Morgan Stanley's report push Greek stocks lower

An unfavourable report by Morgan Stanley on the profit outlook of Greek banks undermined sentiment on the Athens Stock Exchange and pushed stock prices lower on Thursday.

A decision by the European Central Bank to lower its rates by 25 basis points came too late to reverse the trend in the Greek bourse.

The US investment bank lowered its forecasts for Greek banks' profits in the next few years until 2003 and said it was retaining its neutral recommendation for National Bank and Alpha Bank, with a fair value at 33.5 euros and 23 euros per share, respectively.

The general index ended 0.24 percent lower at 2,769.02 points, off the day's lows of 2,755.78 points, with turnover a disappointing 110.94 million euros, or 37.8 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 1,547.63 points, off 0.01 percent, the FTSE/ASE 40 index eased 0.83 percent to 311.97 points, and the FTSE/ASE SMALLCAP 80 index ended at 927.49 points, off 0.52 percent.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 275.51 points, up 0.12 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 248 to 93 with another 22 issues unchanged.

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