Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-07-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] Laiki Bank denies FT report of links to Milosevic

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[03] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Saturday

[04] Greek stocks end 3.04 percent lower in the week

[01] Laiki Bank denies FT report of links to Milosevic

The Cyprus-based Laiki Banking Group on Friday released a statement denying recent reports in the Financial Times that implied it had links to the former Yugoslav government.

The group said that the FT reports were misleading and inaccurate, indirectly linking Laiki to political situations in Cyprus.

International, Yugoslav-owned firms with which the Laiki Group did business were set up in Cyprus; their right to operate was endorsed by the Cypriot central bank; and the Laiki Group had no reason to suspect they were linked with Slobodan Milosevic, the statement said.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank until Monday

U.S. dollar 1.008

Pound sterling 0.638

Danish kroner 7.493

Swedish kroner 9.517

Japanese yen 118.4

Swiss franc 1.461

Norwegian kroner 7.623

Cyprus pound 0.579

Canadian dollar 1.584

Australian dollar 1.869

[03] Weather Forecast: Cloud, rain on Saturday

Cloud is forecast in all parts of the country on Saturday with rain and storms in the Ionian, on the mainland and the northern and eastern islands. Showers or short-lived storms may occur in the rest of the country. Winds variable, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 17C to 29C; in the Ionian and on the rest of the mainland from 20C to 32C; and in the Aegean islands from 22C to 34C. Showers and storms are expected in Athens with temperatures between 23C and 32C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 20 to 28C.

[04] Greek stocks end 3.04 percent lower in the week

Greek stocks ended lower the last trading session of a highly volatile week in the Athens Stock Exchange, following a similar pattern in international markets.

The general index fell 0.65 percent to end at 2,058.94 points, off the day's lows of 2,030 points, but it remained at its lowest levels in the last four years.

Turnover was a low 80.4 million euros.

The Telecommunications, Textile and Publication sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (2.01 percent, 1.30 percent and 1.12 percent, respectively), while the Retail, IT Solutions and Bank sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (0.63 percent, 0.25 percent and 0.19 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 0.43 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index eased 0.07 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index dropped 0.93 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 235 to 77 with another 46 issues unchanged.

The general index ended the week with a net loss of 3.04 percent.

Livanis Publications' debut in the market was marred by controversy over possible abuse or manipulation of the stock. Its stocks were to enter the market with an offer price of 4.84 euros per share, but at the beginning of the session, a open sale order of 74,380 shares at one euro per share pushed Livanis share price down 79.34 percent at the opening.

Market authorities immediately ordered an investigation in the transaction.

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