Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-04-11

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

CONTENTS

[01] FM Papandreou holds talks in Riyad with Saudi counterpart on Mideast

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[03] Weather Forecast: Rain, storms on Friday

[04] Greek bourse down slightly on Thursday

[01] FM Papandreou holds talks in Riyad with Saudi counterpart on Mideast crisis

Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou met in Riyad on Thursday afternoon with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faysal bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud and discussed developments in the Middle East crisis.

According to diplomatic sources, the meeting, which lasted for more than an hour, was held in a good climate and the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia thanked Papandreou for the efforts made by Greece in calming the situation.

Papandreou and Al Saud held in-depth talks on the situation in the region and according to the same diplomatic sources the Saudi official appeared pessimistic but also critical, saying characteristically that the international community, in particular the European Union and the United States, were not making serious efforts.

Prince Al Saud gave particular emphasis to the repercussions which the prolonged crisis has on the peoples of the Arab countries and expressed particular concern. He also spoke at length with the Greek foreign minister on the contents of the peace plan drafted by Saudi Arabia, underlining the need for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro

U.S. dollar 0.886

Pound sterling 0.617

Danish kroner 7.496

Swedish kroner 9.159

Japanese yen 116.7

Swiss franc 1.479

Norwegian kroner 7.684

Cyprus pound 0.580

Canadian dollar 1.409

Australian dollar 1.658

[03] Weather Forecast: Rain, storms on Friday

Rain is forecast on the mainland, in the Ionian area, and northern Aegean, turning to storms later in the day. In the rest of the country, there will be cloud, probably turning to rain mainly in the evening. Winds variable, moderate to very strong, turning gale force in the Ionian at times. On the northern mainland, temperatures will range from 8C to 16C; in the Ionian and on the rest of the mainland from 11C to 21C; and in the Aegean islands from 14C to 24C. Cloud in Athens turning to rain, probably from late afternoon, with storms also likely. Temperatures between 12C and 20C. Rain in Thessaloniki and storms from afternoon, with temperatures from 9C to 15C.

[04] Greek bourse down slightly on Thursday

Equity prices ended slightly lower on Thursday with the Greek bourse finding support at the 2,200 level once again.

The general index fell 0.12 percent to close at 2,204.89 points, with turnover a disappointing 73.5 million euros.

THe Insurance, Textile and Retail sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses (1.54 percent, 1.52 percent and 1.46 percent, respectively), while the Food-Beverage, Publication and Wholesale sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (0.74 percent, 0.70 percent and 0.53 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks eased 0.07 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index ended 0.39 percent lower and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.33 percent down.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 157 to 151 with another 51 issues unchanged.

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