BOC corrects lower

Equity traders decided to lock in some of their recent gains on the shares of Bank of Cyprus, forcing the stock to halt its spectacular advance of the past fortnight, which saw cumulative gains in excess of 20%.

BOC ended Monday trading 2.1% lower on the CSE at CYP 2.33 per share, while in Greece, the shares fell under 1% to EUR 4.14 or CYP 2.37, maintaining the 4 cent gap between the two exchanges.

Volume in Greece on the BOC shares hit 699.000 shares for a value of EUR 2.88 mln or CYP 1.65 mln, just short of the total volume of CYP 1.7 mln transacted Monday on the CSE.

Laiki Bank, which earlier said its board will meet on September 29 to decide on its capital needs, normally a sign that it too will proceed with a right issue, closed well bid. Laiki shares bucked the declining trend and closed 0.62% higher at CYP 1.61 on 312.000 shares volume or a value of CYP 504.000, matching the BOC volume of CYP 519.000.

Hellenic Bank fell 1.8% in tandem with the BOC decline to 54 cent.