ATHEX: Bourse drops 5 pct in week

Weekly losses for the benchmark of the Athens bourse came to 5.06 percent at the end of Friday’s southbound session, while the banks index fell an eye-watering 30.67 percent over the same period. Another 2.23 billion euros was shaved off the bourse’s capitalization.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 640.99 points, shedding 0.27 percent from Thursday’s 642.71 points. The large-cap FTSE 25 index expanded marginally by 0.04 percent to end the week at 185.90 points, although the mid-caps index contracted 1.18 percent.

Banks tried to cover some of their losses earlier in the week, showing some early gains, but apart from National Bank they achieved very little in the end: Their index added just 0.76 percent. Boosted by reports about a possible sale of its Turkish subsidiary, Finansbank, National grew 4.29 percent, while Piraeus dropped 4.17 percent and Alpha fell 2.13 percent.

In total 35 stocks posted gains, 44 took losses and 21 closed unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 19.4 million euros, down from Thursday’s 24.4 million.