Greek stocks could go no direction but down amid an international climate of worry that hit all developed markets in Europe.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 2,512.01 points yesterday, down by 4.31 percent from Tuesday and returning to levels unseen since November 2004. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index fell by 5.15 percent to end at 1,384.44 points.

Banks once again took the worst beating, with National losing 7.89 percent, Alpha dropping by 7.30 percent, Marfin Popular contracting by 7.14 percent, Hellenic Postbank shedding 6.69 percent and Piraeus declining by 5.73 percent.

The blue chips with the greatest growth yesterday were Motor Oil (up 2.63 percent) and Hellenic Petroleum (2.53 percent).

Turnover came to 377 million euros.