Greece's stock market ended Thursday with a modest decline as selling pressure in the Banking, Telecoms and Household sectors outweighed some sector-specific gains.
At the close in Athens the Athens General Composite dropped 0.52%.
The session's top performers on the Athens General Composite included Coca Cola HBC AG (AT:EEEr), which advanced 2.57% - a rise of 1.25 points - to finish at 49.90. Kri-Kri Milk (AT:KRIr) rose 2.33%, adding 0.65 points to close at 28.60, and Trade Estates REIC SA (AT:TRESTATESr) gained 1.75%, up 0.04 points to 2.04.
On the downside, major lenders led the losers. Piraeus Bank SA (AT:BOPr) fell 2.99%, a decline of 0.27 points to close at 8.70. National Bank of Greece SA (AT:NBGr) lost 2.52%, down 0.37 points to finish at 14.34, and Alpha Bank SA (AT:ACBr) slipped 2.50%, or 0.10 points, ending the session at 3.70.
Market breadth was negative: falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Athens Stock Exchange by 68 to 48, while 15 issues were unchanged.
Kri-Kri Milk reached a milestone during the session, trading up to an all-time high - the stock rose 2.33% or 0.65 to 28.60.
Commodities and currency moves accompanied the equity action. Gold Futures for August delivery were reported up 0.62% - a gain of 27.55 - to $4,494.45 a troy ounce. In energy markets, crude oil for July delivery fell 3.32% (down 3.19) to $92.83 a barrel, while the August Brent contract dropped 2.65%, a fall of 2.59, to trade at $95.22 a barrel.
On foreign exchange, EUR/USD was effectively unchanged, quoted at 1.16 with a 0.28% move, and EUR/GBP was also largely flat at 0.87 with a 0.13% change. The US Dollar Index Futures was reported down 0.23% at 99.27.
This combination of sector weakness among banks and selective gains in consumer and real estate names left the overall market modestly lower at the close.