Athens News Agency: News in English, 03-03-07

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

CONTENTS

[01] Exhibition on new Acropolis museum inaugurated in New York

[02] Press & Media minister hold series of meetings in London

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

[04] Weather Forecast: Cloud on Saturday

[05] Greek stocks plunge to new five-year lows on Friday

[01] Exhibition on new Acropolis museum inaugurated in New York

NEW YORK (ANA - P. Panagiotou) - An exhibition on the new Acropolis museum was inaugurated at the exhibition centre of the Alexandros Onassis Foundation here on Thursday night.

The inauguration was conducted by Archbishop of America Dimitrios. Apart from architectural designs, models and photographic material, four model archaeological findings are also on display.

The exhibition will remain open until April 9 and is being presented under the auspices of the culture ministry.

[02] Press & Media minister hold series of meetings in London

LONDON (ANA - L. Tsirigotakis) - Press and Media Minister Christos Protopapas on Friday met with members of the Greek and Greek-Cypriot communities here.

In early afternoon he was hosted to a dinner by the Greek shipping association of London and briefed them of the priorities of the Greek EU presidency.

Earlier in the day he met with British MPs of the Greek lobby and with the Federation of Greek-Cypriot Organizations of Britain Haris Sofoklides.

Later in the day he is expected to speak at the London's economic sciences school on the "Greek Presidency 2003: a historic and substantial landmark for the course of the EU in the future".

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates - Monday

Reference buying rates per euro released by the European Central Bank

U.S. dollar 1.112

Pound sterling 0.692

Danish kroner 7.485

Swedish kroner 9.313

Japanese yen 129.7

Swiss franc 1.477

Norwegian kroner 7.946

Cyprus pound 0.586

Canadian dollar 1.629

Australian dollar 1.804

[04] Weather Forecast: Cloud on Saturday

Light cloud is forecast for most parts of the country, with the exception of the north and the northwest were cloud cover is expected thicker with a chance for rain. Winds variable, light to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from -1C to 12C; on the rest of the mainland from 2C to 15C; and in the islands from 7C to 16C. Cloud with a possibility for rain in Athens and temperatures between 5C and 15C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 3C to 12C.

[05] Greek stocks plunge to new five-year lows on Friday

Greek stocks plunged to new five-year lows on Friday reflecting investors' worries over a possible war in Iraq and market uncertainty in the aftermath of an ASE decision to place 15 listed companies under surveillance citing their serious financial conditions.

The general index fell 1.72 percent to end at 1,540.74 points, with turnover a low 46.3 million euros.

The Retail sector was the only one to score gains (up 0.62 percent), while the Publication, Holding, IT and Cement sectors suffered the heaviest percentage losses of the day (3.91 percent, 3.83 percent, 3.77 percent and 2.84 percent, respectively).

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks dropped 2.31 percent. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 1.60 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index eased 1.74 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 6.09 percent off. The wider FTSE/ASE 140 index dropped 2.06 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 253 to 51 with another 50 issues unchanged.

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