Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-10-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise, buoyed by world markets

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[03] Atlantik mulls buyouts in bid for regional expansion

[04] New round of rate cuts seen if ECB lowers intervention

[05] Greek, Turkish capital market commissions to sign pact

[06] Weather Forecast: Sunshine on Friday

[07] Athens: US evidence points to bin Laden, 'Al-Qaeda'

[08] Papandreou comments on terrorism during CNN interview

[01] Athens Bourse Close: Stocks rise, buoyed by world markets

The Athens bourse finished sharply higher on Thursday, fuelled by sentiment in world markets in the wake of a minor bout of domestic profit-taking in the previous session.

The general share index gained 2.18 percent to end at 2,272.14 points. Turnover was higher at 157.5 million euros.

The FTSE/ASE-20 index for blue chip and heavily traded stocks ended 2.53 percent up; the FTSE/ASE-40 for medium capitalisation paper 1.81 percent higher; and the FTSE/ASE-80 for small cap equities 2.18 percent up.

Advances led declines at 322 to 29 with 14 issues remaining unchanged.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 370.743

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 545.907

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 45.465

Swedish kroner 34.885

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 307.425

Swiss franc 227.530

Norwegian kroner 041.935

Cyprus pound 588.270

Canadian dollar 236.664

Australian dollar 184.648

[03] Atlantik mulls buyouts in bid for regional expansion

Atlantik SA, which is listed on the Athens bourse, may acquire Arista, a small-scale regional supermarket chain and another unnamed chain as part of a plan to evolve a nationwide presence, its chairman, Manolis Apostolou, said on Thursday.

On completion of an ongoing merger with Galinos Laoutaris, Atlantik will have 169 supermarkets by the end of the year, with half in Athens and the remainder in the regions.

Finally, the company is nearing completion of talks with Intermarche, France's largest supermarket, on forging a strategic alliance. The French giant's products will soon be sold in Atlantik's supermarkets, Apostolou told a news conference.

He forecast that the company's turnover would top 122 billion drachmas in 2001.

[04] New round of rate cuts seen if ECB lowers intervention

Domestic commercial banks are expected to launch a fresh round of rate cuts if the European Central Bank (ECB) again lowers its intervention rate, a move already discounted by markets, analysts said on Thursday.

The anticipated rate cut by the ECB to meet what may be an increasing economic slowdown in eurozone countries may come as early as next week, in what would be the fourth reduction this year, the analysts said.

After the latest domestic rate reductions that began in September, interest on savings deposits totals about minus 2.0-3.0 percent on lesser sums, taking into account a 15 percent tax on interest and an inflation rate of 3.4 percent to 3.5 percent, they said.

Returns are roughly the same in most credit institutions.

National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou has said that he expects a further ECB rate decline following the repercussions of terrorist attacks in the US on September 11.

[05] Greek, Turkish capital market commissions to sign pact

The Greek and Turkish capital market commissions on Friday will sign a cooperation agreement in Istanbul to set up an exchange of information and technical cooperation between the two countries' market regulatory authorities.

The agreement is expected to pave the way for cooperation pacts among other market authorities, the Greek commission said in a statement on Thursday.

Accompanying the head of the head of the Greek capital markets commission, Stavros Thomadakis, will be the president of the Athens Stock Exchange, Panayotis Alexakis; the managing director of the Central Share Depository, Loukas Zagas; and the head of the Association of Athens Stock Exchange Members, Panayotis Voillis.

Signing the cooperation deal for the Turkish capital market commmission is Dogan Cansizlar, its president.

[06] Weather Forecast: Sunshine on Friday

The weather will be sunny throughout the country on Friday, with limited early morning visibility in some areas due to mist. Winds westerly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 12C to 29C; on the rest of the mainland and the Ionian from 15C to 31C; and in the Aegean islands from 19C to 29C. Sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 18C and 31C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 15C to 29C.

[07] Athens: US evidence points to bin Laden, 'Al-Qaeda'

The Greek government on Thursday said evidence presented by US authorities proved that Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden and his notorious ?Al-Qaeda organisation? are behind the dastardly Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

"The evidence leads to a conclusion that responsibility for the attacks on the United States lies with the specific terrorist group Al-Qaeda, its leader and its cadres," government spokesman Dimitris Reppas told reporters a regular press briefing.

The spokesman said US Secretary of State Colin Powell conveyed the information to his Greek counterpart George Papandreou during their meeting in Washington on Wednesday.

Reppas also reiterated that Greece would offer all necessary assistance to rid the world of the "international terrorism" scourge.

Finally, in response to a press question, he said the foreign ministry is always willing to brief opposition parties over such issues.

[08] Papandreou comments on terrorism during CNN interview

NEW YORK (ANA - M. Georgiadou) Greece is strongly committed to the fight against terrorism, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou said in a televised interview broadcast by CNN International.

Papandreou gave the interview on Wednesday during a visit to New York.

Expressing the Greek government's deep sorrow at the events of Sept. 11, he noted that terrorism was a common problem that required complete cooperation to be dealt with.

"Greece is ready to cooperate with US authorities, the FBI and the CIA to combat terrorism," he added.

Parrying questions about last year's State Department report, which singled Greece out as Europe's 'weak link' in the fight against terrorism, Papandreou said that the report was relatively old and that these reports were rewritten each year.

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