Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-09-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

[02] No rise seen on Athens bourse before ruling party congress

[03] Conference on Greece in US trade fair

[04] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Tuesday

[05] Greek stocks end sharply lower on ASE

[06] Thessaloniki Trade Fair opens its doors Friday

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Tuesday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 372.608

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 542.138

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 45.406

Swedish kroner 35.544

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 313.218

Swiss franc 223.033

Norwegian kroner 042.092

Cyprus pound 589.890

Canadian dollar 240.150

Australian dollar 196.239

[02] No rise seen on Athens bourse before ruling party congress

A steady upward trend on the Athens Stock Exchange is unlikely to emerge in the short term due to political uncertainty before a congress of the ruling PASOK party next month, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB) said in a market report on Monday.

The report by SSSB analyst Miranda Xafa also said that the government was a hostage to powerful trade unions that controlled about a fifth of the vote in the October congress; and that the unions were against the sale of majority holdings in state firms.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis brought the congress forward from spring 2002, when it was originally due to be held.

Furthermore, it was unlikely that the government would speed up structural changes to the economy after the party congress as local elections were due in October 2002, Xafa added.

Finally, the analyst forecast that Greek inflation would slip to 3.7-3.8 percent in August from 3.9 percent in July.

SSSB is a member of Citigroup, the world's largest financial and banking corporation.

[03] Conference on Greece in US trade fair

A conference on Greece's role in backing peace, security and prosperity for Europe and the US will be held on the weekend of October 20-21 in Atlantic City as part of the Hermes Expo international trade fair.

In addition, Greek companies taking part in the fair will hold presentations of their products.

[04] Weather Forecast: Mostly sunny on Tuesday

Sunny weather is forecast in most parts of the country on Tuesday, with cloud on the mainland from evening. Showers are likely in the eastern and southern islands during the morning. Winds north-northwesterly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 17C to 29C; on the rest of the mainland from 18C to 32C; and in the islands from 22C to 31C. Sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 22C and 31C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 19C to 28C.

[05] Greek stocks end sharply lower on ASE

Equity prices ended Monday's session sharply lower on the Athens Stock Exchange, hit by declines in other European markets and lack of domestic liquidity.

Analysts said the market reaffirmed its short-term support level of 2,720 points.

Shares in the Insurance, Food & Beverage and Telecoms sectors resisted pressures to end with only small losses.

The general index ended 1.05 percent lower at 2,733.24 points, off the day's lows of 2,713.87 points, with turnover a disappointing 106.98 million euros, or 36.45 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 1,536.36 points, off 0.96 percent, the FTSE/ASE 40 index dropped 2.20 percent to 301,52 points, and the FTSE/ASE SMALLCAP 80 index ended at 889.96 points, off 2.40 percent.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 269.35 points, off 1.10 percent.

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 310 to 40 with another 14 issues unchanged.

[06] Thessaloniki Trade Fair opens its doors Friday

With a total 1,210 exhibitors, and an official participation by 15 countries, this year's Thessaloniki International Trade Fair will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Friday, 7 September.

Both the number of this year's exhibitors and state participations, however, is reduced compared with 1,300 and 17 in 2000, respectively.

There will be no featured country in this year's Thessaloniki International Trade Fair (DETH) after a decision to activate this event bi-annually.

Official state participations include: Russia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey, Libya, Tunisia, Iran, France, Italy, Cyprus, Indonesia, South Africa and the US.

The 66th DETH has two main characteristics: the presentation of high-technology products and services under the title "e-EXPO: Modern services to the citizen" and a special exhibition under the title "Euro: a currency for Europe".

Helexpo SA's chairman, Vassilios Kourtesis, attributed the decline in the number of exhibitors to negative global economic conditions and a slump in the Athens Stock Exchange.

The Thessaloniki International Trade Fair is a major economic and political event for Greece, with the prime minister expected to deliver the government's main policies for the next year, followed by news conferences with all political party leaders.

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