Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-08-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] Greece's Kenteris wins gold medal in 200 metres

[02] Weather Forecast: Hot and sunny on Saturday

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[04] Industrial output down 1.0 pct in June

[05] Inflation flat at 3.3 pct in July yr/yr

[06] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks edge up, try to consolidate

[01] Greece's Kenteris wins gold medal in 200 metres

Costas Kenteris of Greece won the gold medal in the men's 200 metres at the European Athletics Championships in Munich on Friday, covering the distance in 19.85 seconds. It was the second best time ever recorded in Europe for the event.

He also broke the competition record and the national record.

Kenteris, 29, had also won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 and the gold medal in the World Athletics Championships in Edmonton in 2001.

[02] Weather Forecast: Hot and sunny on Saturday

Sunny weather is forecast in all parts of the country, with scattered cloud in the north that may turn to isolated storms late in the afternoon, especially on high ground. Winds variable, light. In the north, temperatures will range from 19C to 34C; on the rest of the mainland from 21C to 37C; and in the islands from 23C to 35C. Temperatures in Athens between 24C and 37C; and in Thessaloniki between 23C and 33C.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

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

U.S. dollar 0.980

Pound sterling 0.640

Danish kroner 7.487

Swedish kroner 9.386

Japanese yen 118.1

Swiss franc 1.470

Norwegian kroner 7.523

Cyprus pound 0.578

Canadian dollar 1.541

Australian dollar 1.829

[04] Industrial output down 1.0 pct in June

Industrial production fell by 1.0 percent year on year in June 2002 against the same month a year earlier, the National Statistics Service (NSS) said on Friday.

In the first half of the year, output rose by 0.3 percent in comparison with the corresponding period of 2001, the NSS said in a statement.

[05] Inflation flat at 3.3 pct in July yr/yr

Consumer price inflation in July stood at 3.3 percent year on year, the same as a month earlier, the National Statistics Service (NSS) said on Friday.

The NSS attributed July's figure to a 1.7 percent decline in foodstuffs and non-alcoholic beverages, mainly due to a drop in the price of fruit and vegetables, including potatoes.

In addition, the apparel and footwear index fell by 11.3 percent due to the summer sales, which started early this year; household goods and services dropped by 3.7 percent; and communications services declined by 1.7 percent, the NSS said in a statement.

Furthermore, accomodation services rose by 0.3 percent due to rent increases and a hike in electricity rates.

Finally, health services increased by 0.6 percent.

The European Union harmonised consumer price index remained unchanged at 3.6 percent in July, the statement added.

[06] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks edge up, try to consolidate

The Athens bourse finished slightly higher on Friday in a second straight consolidating session with trade in a narrow range.

The general share index gained 0.32 percent to end at 2,131.71 points. Turnover was 85.2 million euros.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 0.38 percent up; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 0.01 percent higher; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities 0.44 percent up.

Of 361 stocks traded, declines led advances at 155 to 148 with 58 issues remaining unchanged.

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