Athens market suffered severe losses on Monday, while the investors’ interest was focused on the developments regarding the proposed merger of National Bank-Alpha Bank, both ending in positive territory.
The very heavy turnover of EUR258.9mn was mainly channeled through the banking sector.
Indicative of the trading activity was the fact that Alpha Bank and National Bank opened enhanced by 14.82% and 4.36% respectively, while their intraday profits reached 18.58% and 7% respectively. Finally, Alpha ended at session’s low, up 5.01% while NBG posted minor gains of 0.4%.
ATE Bank, Proton Bank, Hellenic Postbank and Piraeus Bank posted double-digit losses, while Eurobank, Attica Bank fell by 8.75% and 7.94% respectively. Bank of Cyprus, Marfin Popular Bank and Geniki Bank declined by 6.44%, 5.83% and 4.39% respectively.
Analysts attribute banks’ heavy losses to disappointment over the sector consolidation stalemate, while they state that the letter to the Alpha Bank personnel sent by the chairman of the bank, Ioannis Kostopoulos, triggered speculation and volatility.
Alpha and National eased from early sharp highs as prospects of their merger looked more and more bleak," a senior local trader told Dow Jones Newswires.
"What started as profit taking in banks led to sell off on M&A disappointment and fear that any EU mechanism won’t be able to engage in bond buybacks to resolve the local debt crisis."
Across the board, the General Index ended at 1668.25 units, down 2.73% with a trading volume of 74mn units. A total amount of 130 shares declined, 108 remained unchanged and 46 rose.
Banks moved in a margin of 120 units or 7.69%, ending at 1506.03, down 3.25%.
Across FTSE20, apart from banks, Titan and Jumbo rose by 1.44% and 0.35%, while MIG, Viohalco, Mytilineos and OTE fell by 8.82%, 6.53%, 6.07% and 4.38% respectively.
The very heavy turnover of EUR258.9mn was mainly channeled through the banking sector.
Indicative of the trading activity was the fact that Alpha Bank and National Bank opened enhanced by 14.82% and 4.36% respectively, while their intraday profits reached 18.58% and 7% respectively. Finally, Alpha ended at session’s low, up 5.01% while NBG posted minor gains of 0.4%.
ATE Bank, Proton Bank, Hellenic Postbank and Piraeus Bank posted double-digit losses, while Eurobank, Attica Bank fell by 8.75% and 7.94% respectively. Bank of Cyprus, Marfin Popular Bank and Geniki Bank declined by 6.44%, 5.83% and 4.39% respectively.
Analysts attribute banks’ heavy losses to disappointment over the sector consolidation stalemate, while they state that the letter to the Alpha Bank personnel sent by the chairman of the bank, Ioannis Kostopoulos, triggered speculation and volatility.
Alpha and National eased from early sharp highs as prospects of their merger looked more and more bleak," a senior local trader told Dow Jones Newswires.
"What started as profit taking in banks led to sell off on M&A disappointment and fear that any EU mechanism won’t be able to engage in bond buybacks to resolve the local debt crisis."
Across the board, the General Index ended at 1668.25 units, down 2.73% with a trading volume of 74mn units. A total amount of 130 shares declined, 108 remained unchanged and 46 rose.
Banks moved in a margin of 120 units or 7.69%, ending at 1506.03, down 3.25%.
Across FTSE20, apart from banks, Titan and Jumbo rose by 1.44% and 0.35%, while MIG, Viohalco, Mytilineos and OTE fell by 8.82%, 6.53%, 6.07% and 4.38% respectively.
