ASE Affected Heavily By Greek Debt
 
                         For  the first time since January 21, 1997, the banking index of the Athens  Exchange closed below 1,100 units, after a new drop of 5.7% on Monday. 
The General Index ended close to session’s low at a session that showed  once again that the scenarios about Greek debt weigh heavily on the  domestic market, while the sharp widening of Greek bond spreads and CDS  continued reaching new records. 
 
The “finishing stoke” was the downgrade of the outlook of the U.S.  credit rating by S&P, which forced into significant losses both  European exchanges and Wall Street. 
Across the board, the General Index ended at 1,427.49 units, down 2.83%,  moving into negative territory for the greatest part of the trading  session, with intraday losses of 2.89%. Approximately 32.17 million  units worth €91.49m were traded on Monday, while a total amount of 118  shares recorded losses, 29 rose and 135 remained unchanged. 
Banks recorded a 14-year low, at 1,084.95 units, down 5.67%. ATEbank,  Alpha Bank and Piraeus Bank bore the heaviest pressures, with losses of  7.69%, 7.49% and 7.20% respectively. 
Hellenic Postbank fell by 6.89% at €2.84, while Geniki Bank and Attica  Bank dropped by around 5.6%. National Bank declined by 5.55% at €5.45,  while Eurobank and Bank of Cyprus posted losses of 4.99% and 4.53  respectively. 
Across FTSE20, only PPC and Coca-Cola 3E ended in green, with gains of  1.42% and 0.31%. On the other hand, Viohalco, Ellaktor fell by 6.08% and  5.12% respectively, while Titan declined by 3.85% at €17. MIG, OPAP,  OTE, Motor Oil and Mytilineos recorded losses of more than 2%.
(capital.gr)