ECONOMY

Stocks tumble 3.8 pct on bank led losses

Greek stocks fell sharply on Tuesday on heavy losses in banks after Moody?s slashed its ratings on Greece.

The Athens bourse?s benchmark general index dropped 3.81 percent to 1,525.50 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index shed 4.53 percent to end at 699.62 points.

Banks tumbled 6.33 percent over fears that the latest downgrade to the country?s sovereign debt rating will create further liquidity problems for the sector. Moody?s announced on Monday that it had cut Greece?s rating three notches to B1 from Ba1 on concerns that the country will have to restructure its massive debt load.

The Athens stock exchange was closed on Monday due to a public holiday.

National Bank gave up 6.82 percent to end at 6.15 euros and peer Piraeus dropped 7.28 percent to 1.40 euros.

Eurobank EFG plunged 6.16 percent to 4.30 euros and Hellenic Postbank ended at 3.11 euros, off 7.99 percent for the day. Bank of Cyprus also took heavy losses, dropping 5.84 percent to 2.58 euros.

Turnover reached 133.5 million euros.

Subscribe to our Newsletters

Enter your information below to receive our weekly newsletters with the latest insights, opinion pieces and current events straight to your inbox.

By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.