No end in sight for stocks’ decline
Greek stocks are in desperate need of a lift this week after 10 consecutive sessions of losses. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index finished the week at 3,619.11, 3.21 percent lower than the previous Friday’s 3,739.27 points. This has taken the index’s cumulative losses to over 30 percent this year. Worse still, economists see little hope for a rebound in the coming days, saying that we have not yet seen the end of the decline. Blue chips may well continue to bear the brunt of foreign investors’ sell-off needs, judging by the way that banks, Coca-Cola HBC and PPC suffered in the last couple of weeks. It has already been shown several times in the last 12 months (November 2007, February, March and June 2008) that foreign funds in Greece are ever ready to exit the Athens bourse by pressing the «sell» button. The market is particularly concerned about the decline of National Bank stock below the 30-euro mark.