ATHEX: Piraeus leads bourse to new price decline

The global shift of traders away from stocks toward bonds affected the Athens stock market too on Wednesday, with Greece’s benchmark bond yield hovering around a three-month high.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index ended at 788.75 points, shedding 0.90% from Tuesday’s 795.91 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index contracted 1.14% to close at 1,895.50 points.

The negative publicity surrounding the resignation of the head of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund, Martin Czurda, continues to affect not only Piraeus Bank (in which the HFSF holds a 61% stake) but the rest of the credit sector too. The banks index lost 1.80%, as Piraeus dropped 4.52%, Alpha parted with 2.94%, Eurobank shrank 1.05% and National was down 0.95%.

Ellaktor and Public Power Corporation outperformed, with gains of 3.30% and 3.25% respectively, while Terna Energy fell 2.27%.

In total 32 stocks enjoyed gains, 63 suffered losses and 22 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to €67.2 million, up from Tuesday’s €45.4 million.

In Nicosia, the general index of the Cyprus Stock Exchange increased 0.40% to close at exactly 58 points.