ATHEX index drops below 1,000 points
Panic on global markets following the emergence of the debt crisis in Italy -- along with the rest of the eurozone -- as well as the downgrading of the US economy by Standard & Poor's last Friday, sent Greek stocks spiraling lower on Monday, with the main index dropping below the 1,000-point milestone.
The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 998.24 points, declining by 6 percent from Friday’s closing figure of 1,062 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index dropped 5.84 percent to end at 432.26 points.
After the end of the session yesterday, the Capital Market Commission was forced to resort to a ban on short selling until October 7.
"The governing board of the Commission, taking note of the extraordinary conditions in the Greek capital market, has decided to ban the short selling of stocks listed on the Athens Stock Exchange,» its statement read.
The markets were clearly not impressed by the pledges of the European Central Bank late on Sunday for a bond buyback program for Italy and Spain, with bourses across the continent registering losses in the wake of sliding Asian markets and preceding a steep decline at the opening of the New York Stock Exchange.
The decline on the Frankfurt bourse at around noon, owing to worries that the German economy may be stretched to its limits due to all the loans it has been funding, and rumors about a reduced contribution by the International Monetary Fund to the second Greek bailout package, sent stocks in Athens into free fall.
As a result, the 11th consecutive session of losses for Greece’s benchmark stock index saw it slip below the key level of 1,000 points for the first time in the last 15 years, with several prominent blue chips posting historic lows.
OTE led the drop with losses of 10.85 percent, followed by OPAP (down 8.89 percent) and Hellenic Postbank (8.70 percent). The only blue chip to post gains was Duty Free Shops (up 2.17 percent).
In total, 24 stocks moved up, 137 went down and 27 remained unchanged.
Turnover came to 84.2 million euros, down from 87.8 million on Friday.
ekathimerini.com , Monday August 8, 2011 (18:48)