ATHEX: Four-week rising streak snapped

The decline of the benchmark at Athinon Avenue continued on Friday for a fourth day in a row, only this time at an accelerated pace and with twice as many stocks declining as those that reported growth. The main index was down by as much as 1.55% at one point during the session, exercising some damage limitation toward the end.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,203.08 points, shedding 1.23% from Thursday's 1,218.07 points. On a weekly basis it declined by 1.37%, putting an end to the rising streak of the previous four weeks.

The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 1.42%, ending up at 2,920.53 points and the banks index dropped 1.93% as Alpha parted with 2.58%, Eurobank lost 2.16%, Piraeus gave up 1.51% and National eased 1.31%.

Motor Oil conceded 3.04%, Jumbo fell 2.91% and Coca-Cola HBC shied 2.67%, but Public Power Corporation bucked the...