Market up at the end of rocky week

AFTER a rocky week due to a global market downturn, the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) general index ended the week’s trading by gaining back some of its earlier losses.

On Thursday, the market dropped around four per cent.

Yesterday, however, the general index rose 1.7 per cent, as did the banking sector, while the hotel sector gained 3.4 per cent. Laiki (Marfin) Bank increased 2.8 per cent to £9.26, Bank of Cyprus (BoC) 0.69 per cent to £11.64 and Hellenic Bank 2.2 per cent to £4.68 with a volume of nearly £12 million moving in the banking sector. Total volume yesterday was £18 million.

Trading began on shaky ground and entered a downward spiral in the first four hours, but then took a sharp upward trend to end in the black.

Bank trading was influenced by reports that Marfin had acquired 5.3 per cent in Greek telecommunications giant OTE.

Other reports yesterday referred to the transfer of the share register of Marfin and Bank of Cyprus from the CSE to the Athens Stock Exchange.

The reports said that 65 per cent of Marfin and 45 per cent of Bank of Cyprus had been transferred to Athens due to more flexibility at that end.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.