The market opened at 611.09 and edged marginally higher to 611.16 then started descending, hitting a day low of 616.45 before climbing back up to its closing level. Traders said the market was seen trading between 600 and 640 in the near term, with a more definitive course only likely after more companies start issuing their results. Laiki's board of directors will be meeting on March 7 to review 1999 financial results and approve dividend policy. There were 2,975 deals yesterday, which is also significantly lower than deals of more than 4,000 seen daily until mid-February. There did not appear to be many willing sellers on the market amid expectations that prices would soon start going up once new investment firms started investing on the market, he said.
Sellers are reluctant and buyers are hesitant.
All seven sub-sectors registered declines, led by a 2.7 per cent drop in small cap investment stocks, and a 2.12 per cent decline for service companies. Banking shares, which hold more than half the bourse's capitalisation of around 13 billion, retreated 0.6 per cent. Bank of Cyprus fell 14 cents to 9.35 on a turnover of 271,000 shares, while Popular climbed eight cents to 14.82. Louis Cruise Lines dominated trading with 663,932 shares changing hands. Avacom said the deal would allow subsidiary Global Data Solutions Ltd. to take a 20 per cent equity stake in TEC, while another subsidiary, Avacom Net Services Ltd, would take a 10 per cent stake.