ATHEX: Greek stocks plunge to June 2012 level
Thursday’s industrial action, the call by Brussels for additional austerity measures and reports that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is again trying to revive the idea of a Greek eurozone exit have sent local stocks spinning in a downward spiral over the last two sessions. The Greek benchmark has returned to levels unseen since June 2012, when political instability was at its height and the banking system was on the brink of collapse.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 509.45 points, dropping 3.83 percent from Wednesday’s 529.73 points, with the downward trend on most European markets not helping either. The large-cap FTSE 25 index fell 5.49 percent to end at 137.48 points.
Banks suffered a contraction of over 10 percent for a second day in a row, giving up 10.29 percent yesterday. Eurobank plummeted 12.75 percent, Alpha slid 10.30 percent and National decreased 9.33 percent. Folli Follie advanced 1.33 percent.
In total 24 stocks recorded gains, 67 suffered losses and 22 remained unchanged.
Turnover amounted to 81.1 million euros, up from Wednesday’s 51.2 million.
In Nicosia the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange declined 0.74 percent to 66.98 points.
