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Athens News Agency: News in English (PM), 99-01-29
NEWS IN ENGLISH
Athens, Greece, 29/01/1999 (ANA)
MAIN HEADLINES
- Greek equities surge to new high
- Coast guard searches for missing boat
- Papandreou in Cyprus for talks
- Cretan air carrier begins flights to Bari
- PAO close to signing Brazilian Cesar
- Weather
- Foreign Exchange
NEWS IN DETAIL
Greek equities surge to new high
Greek equities surged to new records for the third consecutive session on
the Athens Stock Exchange in record turnover which caused problems in the
operation of the market's electronic trading system. The general index
ended 1.80 percent higher at 3,149.50 points, its seventh record closing in
1999. The index ended the week 5.48 percent up. Turnover was 133,133
billion drachmas. The week's daily average turnover totalled 112.8 billion,
up from 100.5 billion the previous week. Volume was 20,350,000 shares.
Traders said banks were at the focus of foreign institutional investors who
remained active buyers in the Greek market.
Coast guard searches for missing boat
The Greek Coast Guard was searching on Friday for any trace of a trawler
with seven people on board and unsighted since Sunday. The trawler
'Lyberius', with two Greek seamen and five foreigners aboard, set sail from
the port of Keratsini, near Piraeus, on Saturday, destined for the Cycladic
islands. The Lyberius was last seen on Sunday evening off the coast of the
island of Santorini by another fishing boat.
Papandreou in Cyprus for talks
Alternate Foreign Minister George Papandreou agreed in talks on Friday with
Cyprus Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides that the prospects for Cyprus'
accession the European Union were "positive", despite certain temporary
difficulties. During their talks, the two officials discussed issues
related to the adjustment of Cypriot national legislation to Community law
and underlined a series of economic data showing that Cyprus was far ahead
of other candidate countries as regards the fulfilment of accession
criteria. Papandreou, who arrived in Cyprus last night, was scheduled to
meet later today with Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides, House Speaker
Spyros Kyprianou and political party leaders.
Cretan air carrier begins flights to Bari
The Cretan private airline company "Air Greece" on Friday announced an
additional service to Bari, Italy which will begin on February 15. The
flights will depart from Athens every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10.00
am local time. "Air Greece believes that the benefits of the new service
will be multiple, not only on the levels of tourism and commerce but also
from the cultural viewpoint," the airline said in a statement.
PAO close to signing Brazilian Cesar
Greek soccer club Panathinaikos is reportedly very near to signing
Brazilian international Julio Cesar who met in Athens on Friday with the
club's chairman, George Vardinoyannis, to discuss the transfer. Cesar, 36,
played for Brazil in the 1986 World Cup, after which he joined several top
clubs in Europe, including Juventus, Montpelier and his present team,
Dortmund. According to unconfirmed reports, Cesar will sign an initial six-
month contract for a fee of 150 million drachmas. Cesar is expected to
return to Germany later today and return on Monday at the latest.
WEATHER
Cloudy weather, rain and storms will prevail throughout Greece today. Snow
in the mountainous regions. Winds variable, moderate to strong, turning
gale force in the east and south. Rain from the afternoon in Athens with
temperatures ranging between 8-14C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures
from 3-8C.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Friday's rates (buying) U.S. dollar 279.308
Pound sterling 460.526 Japanese yen (100) 241.721
French franc 48.663 German mark 163.208
Italian lira (100) 16.486 Irish Punt 405.308
Belgian franc 7.913 Finnish mark 53.687
Dutch guilder 144.849 Danish kr. 42.928
Austrian sch. 23.198 Spanish peseta 1.918
Swedish kr. 35.950 Norwegian kr. 37.349
Swiss franc 197.740 Port. Escudo 1.592
Aus. dollar 174.394 Can. dollar 183.222
Cyprus pound 550.560
(M.P.)
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