BOC set for ASE/FTSE 20 entry

Bank of Cyprus and the Postal Savings Bank are seen as the prime candidates to be proposed for entry into the ASE/FTSE 20 index when the ASE/FTSE semi-annual revision takes place in the last week of October.

The constituent reviews will be based on data collected on Friday September 29, 2006. Constituent changes will be implemented on December 1, 06.

BOC and the Postal Savings Bank are seen replacing Intacom and Hellenic Duty Free Shops (HDFS) according to an investment report by Egnatia Financial Services Greece.

In the event that the ASE/FTSE committee decides that one of the following stocks i.e. Emporiki Bank, Germanos and Regency should exit the index since they have low liquidity then probably, they will be replaced from the first three companies in the reserve list that currently are: Intralot, Marfin and Hellenic Technodomiki.

As of Monday, there was an hour extension in the trading hours of ATHEX. Specifically, trading commenced one hour earlier at 10:30 (local time).