Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-04-17

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

CONTENTS

[01] Pope-Athens-Programme

[02] Derivatives Market-Close

[03] Thessaloniki-Car Show-Antique Cars

[04] Greece - Israel - Holocaust

[05] Hellenic Stock Exchanges-Roadshows

[06] Secondary Bond Market-Close

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates-Wednesday

[08] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

[09] ASE-close

[01] Pope-Athens-Programme

Sources of the Catholic Church in Greece on Tuesday announced the programme of Pope John Paul II during his visit to Greece and added that the formal approval of the Church of Greece and the Greek government remains.

According to the programme, the Pope will arrive in Athens at 11:30 on Friday May 4, on board an Alitalia airliner, and a small welcoming reception will be held at the airport.

Later, he will be visiting the Presidential Mansion where the official welcoming will be taking place, as well as the Archdiocese, before arriving at the residence of his representative in Athens where he will be staying.

He will dine with Catholic clergymen there and rest before going to Agios Dionysios Catholic Cathedral for a meeting with clergymen and monks of the Catholic Church.

In the evening, the Pope will be visiting the Arios Pagos hill to fulfill the purpose of his visit and pray at the location where Apostle Paul teached the word of God to the Athenians for the first time.

Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos, together with a delegation of high priests from the Church of Greece, will be returning the visit later on. However, there will be no joint praying or officiating with Archbishop Christodoulos or any other clergyman from the Church of Greece.

At 8 a.m. on May 5, the Pope will be visiting the indoor basketball stadium at the installations of the Athens Olympic stadium where a church service will be held before he leaves for the airport to fly to Damascus, the next stop in his pilgrimage which will end in Malta.

[02] Derivatives Market-Close

Equity futures traded on the Athens Derivatives Exchange finished higher on Tuesday, roughly in line with the bourse indices on which they are based, traders said.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index closed 1.61 percent up, and the FTSE/ASE 40 ended 0.52 percent lower.

Traded were 5,883 contracts on turnover of 43.8 million euros.

[03] Thessaloniki-Car Show-Antique Cars

The Technical Museum of Thessaloniki will display its collection of antique cars at the Car & Motor-Accessories and Hi Fi Show 2001 in the northern port city on April 19-22.

[04] Greece - Israel - Holocaust

Israels ambassador to Athens and representatives of the Central Jewish Council of Greece (KIS) will honour 22 Greek citizens on Wednesday for their efforts to save Greek Jews during the World War II occupation.

The 22 individuals, who risked their lives to assist their fellow countrymen, will be bestowed the title of ?righteous among nations? by the Israeli state during a special ceremony at Ambassador Ran Curiels residence.

The Jerusalem-based Yad Vashem Institute awards the title of ?righteous among nations? along with an accompanying medal. A second ceremony, complete with the unveiling of a plaque bearing the honoured individuals name and a tree-planting ceremony will take place at the Jerusalem institute.

[05] Hellenic Stock Exchanges-Roadshows

Hellenic Stock Exchanges SA, one of whose members is the Athens bourse, has taken part in two corporate roadshows held abroad recently for institutional investors, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The first was arranged by National Bank of Greece International in London, Edinburgh and Milan on March 26-28; and the second by Eurocorp on April 6, in which Athens bourse president, Panayotis Alexakis, took part.

Quoted Hellenic Stock Exchanges told investors that its results were positive, that it was planning growth at home and in the Balkans, and that it was seeking an alliance with a stock exchange in Europe or beyond, the statement said.

[06] Secondary Bond Market-Close

Bond prices in the domestic secondary market on Wednesday finished lower in light to moderate trade with pressure seen on long-term paper.

The Greek benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 5.40 percent.

The yield spread over German bunds was 54 basis points.

Turnover through the central bank's electronic system totalled 555 million euros (189.0 billion drachmas).

Sell orders accounted for the bulk of turnover.

[07] Foreign Exchange Rates-Wednesday

Wednesday's buying rates

U.S. dollar 384.506

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 551.339

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.296

Swedish kroner 37.330

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 310.818

Swiss franc 222.015

Norwegian kroner 42.001

Cyprus pound 584.476

Canadian dollar 246.242

Australian dollar 194.225

[08] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

Scattered cloud is forecast throughout the country on Wednesday, turning to showers in many parts of the north and west, with storms in the eastern Aegean islands. The weather will gradually improve from the west. Winds variable, moderate to strong, turning gale force in the south. Temperatures in the north will range from 5C to 18C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 8C to 22C; and in the Aegean islands from 12C to 21C. Cloudy in Athens and possibly showery in the morning, with temperatures between 1C and 21C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 8C to 17C.

[09] ASE-close

Strong demand for blue chips, particularily banks, lifted Greek equity prices higher on the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday, after a four-day Easter holiday.

Traders said investors ignored a sharp fall in other European markets and noted that only five shares (National Bank, Commercial Bank, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank and Hellenic Telecoms) together accounted for more than 50 percent of the day's turnover.

Buying interest focused on shares listed on a reviewed MSCI Greece index, offering further evidence that the Greek bourse was currently a two-speed market, with money flowing into blue chip stocks from smaller capitalisation stocks.

The general index ended 0.82 percent higher at 3,185.50 points, with turnover a low 131.72 million euros, or 44.88 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.61 percent higher at 1,869.99 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index eased 1.93 percent to 370.82 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 323.87 points, off 0.75 percent.

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