ATHEX: A few blue chips keep index afloat

Banks and the majority of stocks ended the session on Thursday with losses, but the benchmark managed to close virtually unchanged thanks to support from a handful of blue chips.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 640.67 points, shedding just 0.01 percent from Wednesday's 640.75 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 0.69 percent to 1,680.95 points, but the small-cap index fell 1.26 percent.

The banks index declined 1.68 percent, as Alpha gave up 3.46 percent, Eurobank lost 1.96 percent and Attica shrank 0.98 percent, while Piraeus increased 3.13 percent and National rose 0.77 percent. These two banks, along with Coca-Cola HBC (up 4.84 percent after reporting a 1.2 percent yearly rise in profit in Januray-September) and Motor Oil (up 1.47 percent), kept the main index afloat, given their high capitalization.

Losers included GEK Terna and...