Levy fears drive bourse decline
Rumors of an extraordinary levy being instituted on banks and enterprises as well as the negative mood on global markets brought out more sellers in the last bourse session of the week yesterday. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index declined to 2,830.01 points yesterday, dropping 2.22 percent from Thursday’s close at 2,894.15 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index fell 2.63 percent to end at 1,517.81 points. Banks suffered considerables losses, with Alpha Bank shedding 6.43 percent, National Bank dropping 3.56 percent, Marfin Popular Bank declining by 3.52 percent and Piraeus Bank losing 2.65 percent. Bucking the trend were Marfin Investment Group (up by 1.27 percent), Motor Oil (0.49 percent) and OTE telecom (0.24 percent). Turnover rose to 425.1 million euros, up from Thursday’s 415 million euros.
