Rating agencies’ blow to stocks
The noises coming from Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s about a possible further downgrading of Greece’s credit ratings, coupled with adverse corporate news, created a negative climate on the local bourse yesterday. The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,872.53 points yesterday, shrinking by 2.82 percent from Wednesday’s close at 1,926.81 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index declined by 3.71 percent to end at 924.08 points. All but two blue chips registered losses yesterday with banks faring worst as their sectoral index dropped by 4.92 percent. Bank of Cyprus fell by 7.05 percent, EFG Eurobank by 5.82 percent and National Bank by 5.18 percent. Going up were Coca-Cola HBC (1.41 percent) and Hellaktor (0.48 percent). Turnover came to 149.7 million euros.
