Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-01-24

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Regulators slap fine on Schroder Salomon Smith Barney

[02] Bank of Greece collects over 50pct of drachma notes

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[04] Weather Forecast: Rainy on Friday

[05] ND spokesman claims there is 'internal party' within PASOK

[06] Protesting farmers lift roadblock on highway to N. Moudania

[07] Greece backs Cyprus's stance over US Embassy reception

[08] We're here to produce results, not dramas, PM tells cabinet

[09] ATHOC recruits top-notch artists for free concert to attract volunteers

[10] Blue chips lead ASE higher on Thursday

[01] Regulators slap fine on Schroder Salomon Smith Barney

The capital market commission has fined Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB), the international investment house, 225,000 euros for breaching rules on the abuse of insider information.

The commission said in a statement that SSSB was in possession of a customer order on May 31, 2001 for the sale of a block of shares that would clearly drive down the Athens bourse's general index, which in fact happened. The order was executed in the last 10 minutes of trade.

Before the order was executed and while the general index was rising, SSSB dumped stock that it owned, the statement said.

SSSB sold its own stock on the basis of insider information that at the end of the trading session its customer's bulk sale order would be executed, the commission said.

The statement added that a copy of the commission's report on the transaction and penalty would be sent to UK regulatory authorities.

[02] Bank of Greece collects over 50pct of drachma notes

The central bank has collected 57.3 percent of drachma notes in existence, with 64 percent of banknotes in circulation now in euros, the finance ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The ministry said a survey showed that 94.9 percent of the population had acquired euros by January 18, with 89.8 percent of the total having effected transactions in euros.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro

U.S. dollar 0.883

Pound sterling 0.621

Danish kroner 7.489

Swedish kroner 9.309

Japanese yen 118.89

Swiss franc 1.480

Norwegian kroner 7.939

Cyprus pound 0.580

Canadian dollar 1.414

Australian dollar 1.711

[04] Weather Forecast: Rainy on Friday

Showers are forecast throughout the country turning to storms from the afternoon, mainly in the east and south. The west will be rainy and stormy all day. Winds variable, moderate, turning very strong at sea. In the north, temperatures will range from 1C to 12C; on the rest of the mainland from 3C to 16C; and in the Aegean islands from 8C to 18C. Rain and possibly a storm in Athens from late afternoon, with temperatures between 8C and 16C. Showers from late afternoon in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 4C to 12C.

[05] ND spokesman claims there is 'internal party' within PASOK

The 45 MPs who signed a letter asking for a debate on the social insurance issue were an 'internal party' within PASOK's ranks, main opposition New Democracy spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos asserted on Thursday.

Roussopoulos was referring to letters sent by 45 PASOK MPs to PASOK party organs and the leaders of the party's parliamentary group, asking for a debate within the party and government on the crucial issue of social insurance reform.

[06] Protesting farmers lift roadblock on highway to N. Moudania

Protesting farmers lifted their roadblock and reopened the Thessaloniki-Nea Moudania national highway shortly before noon on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, farmers taking part in nationwide protest action called for this weekend by farming unions had closed off the road at the Sozopolis junction and set fire to a tractor. The tractor was still blazing at the time of the report though not impeding the movement of vehicles.

In statements to the Athens News Agency, the president of the federation of Halkidiki farming federations said the farmers were determined to keep up their protests on the national highway until their demands were met.

[07] Greece backs Cyprus's stance over US Embassy reception

Greece fully agreed with the statements of the Cyprus government regarding the reception held at the inauguration of new US embassy offices in occupied northern Cyprus, government spokesman Christos Protopapas said on Thursday.

Cyprus government spokesman Mihalis Papapetros said on Thursday that the Cypriot government was not satisfied with clarifications given by Washington on the issue, in response to a demarche lodged by Cyprus.

Nicosia objected to not being informed about the guest list for the reception, which included Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and other high-ranking members of the illegal regime occupying northern Cyprus.

[08] We're here to produce results, not dramas, PM tells cabinet

The government's attention in this phase should centre on its work because the people expected results, Prime Minister Costas Simitis emphasised during a meeting of the cabinet on Thursday.

Reporting on the meeting, government spokesman Christos Protopapas said the prime minister had emphasised the need to promote and strenuously defend the government's policy goals and to fight a preoccupation with internal party affairs that led to inertia.

"Politics is not about personal confrontations and projecting dramas. The main point of politics is to change the way society works and this is what we must focus our attention on," Simitis said.

[09] ATHOC recruits top-notch artists for free concert to attract volunteers

Highly popular Greek artists Alkistis Protopsalti, Marios Fragoulis and Dionysis Savvopoulos will participate gratis in a concert on January 30 organised by the Athens Olympics Organising Committee (ATHOC) as part of its campaign to attract Olympics volunteers.

The concert, during which ATHOC will present its official volunteer form, will take place at the indoor basketball courts at OAKA, beginning at 8:00 p.m., while entry for the public will be free.

At a press conference on Thursday accompanied by Protopsalti and actor Spyros Papadopoulos who will be the concert presenter, ATHOC head Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki said the message was that the Games were not just for Athens but for the whole of Greece.

According to figures released by ATHOC, some 31,700 individuals and 485 state and non-governmental organisations have so far informally expressed an interest in volunteering their services for the Games, making a total of roughly 42,000 volunteers.

[10] Blue chips lead ASE higher on Thursday

Greek stocks continued moving higher on the Athens Stock Exchange on Thursday, supported by strong buying interest in blue chip stocks, pushing the general index above the 2,600 level.

The index ended 0.91 percent higher at 2,620.92 points, with turnover a substantially improved Dr 73.75 billion, or 216.44 million euros.

The Bank, IT and Metals sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (1.74 percent, 1.52 percent and 1.01 percent, respectively), while the Food-Beverage, Construction and Publishing sectors suffered losses (0.93 percent, 0.68 percent and 0.44 percent).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chips and heavy traded stocks ended 1.10 percent up, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 0.38 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 0.19 percent higher.

National Bank's shares ended 1.58 percent up and Alpha Bank rose 1.86 percent.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 163 to 153 with another 44 issues unchanged.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article