Athens Stocks Slid Further
Greek Stocks plunged in very thin trade on Thursday, as the General Index ended just above session’s low, with only two shares on positive grounds.
The Greek market failed to remain unaffected by the extremely negative sentiment in major stock markets abroad, so it continues to suffer heavy losses, despite the fact that the total market capitalization has slipped and remains at all-time lows, close to 17% of GDP.
European leaders’ indecisiveness to proceed with bolder interventions to address the debt crisis has fuelled market skepticism, according to analysts, who do not foresee any fundamental change soon.
Meanwhile, they add, the Greek government continues to struggle in implementing the fiscal consolidation program, both in privatization package and state revenue-expenditure, amid deep recession, high unemployment rate and deteriorating economic sentiment.
Under these circumstances, the investment forbearance is not surprising at all, they comment, as probably the market has not exhausted the potential downside and that violent fluctuations would remain a key feature in the near future.
On the board, the General Index fell by 3.38% at 976.62 units, moving into negative territory throughout the trading session. The volume reached 21.83 million units worth €46.19 million, while a total amount of 109 shares declined, 152 remained unchanged and only 19 rose.
Banks, which recorded intraday losses of 5.10%, ended at 655.15 units, down 4.70%. Hellenic Postbank suffered the heaviest losses, falling by 9.14% at session’s low, while National Bank retreated to €3.74.
Analytically on FSTE20, Ellaktor, Mytilineos and OTE declined by 8.49%, 7.58% and 7.26% respectively, while Bank of Cyprus fell by 6.96% at €1.07. MIG, Jumbo, Alpha Bank and Marfin Popular Bank posted losses of 5.88%, 5.84%, 5.78% and 5.71% respectively.
(capital.gr)