Political turbulences forced the Athens Stock Exchange into further losses and new lows on Thursday, following the failure to form a unity government.
While new resignations of ruling party MPs and hearsay that Greek government proceeds with either cabinet reshuffle or early elections concern Eurozone countries and IMF, the General Index moved downwards throughout the trading session, posting intraday losses of 3.68%, below 1.200 units.
Comments and statements of European officials on the disbursement of the fifth slide of the loan to Greece failed to calm the market, as banks were at the epicenter of pressures, with the index posting intraday losses of 4.67%, before it end at 891.12 units, down by 3.37%.
At the same time, Greek bond spreads and CDS jumped at new highs, dragging Irish and Portuguese spreads and CDS too.
Marfin Analysis spoke of escalating political risks in its morning report, adding that “the allparty government postponement seems to be delaying, at least for the moment, any possibility of momentum’s reversal.”
Pegasus Securities commented that “the market’s course is determined by unconstructive political developments that continue to fuel investors with uncertainty and effectively blanket positive background talk coming from the 5th Memorandum tranche disposal, as well as the approval of a 2nd bailout package”.
"The political scene is very fluid and that is causing investors to sell down their holdings," a local trader told Dow Jones Newswires. "Everything seems very up in the air right now."
Across the board, the General Index ended at 1,208.09 units, with losses of 2.81%. Approximately 31.37 million units worth €85.82m were traded on Thursday, while a total amount of 104 shares declined, 30 rose and 146 remained unchanged.
ATEBank topped FTSE20, with profits of 4.46%, while Viohalco rose by 0.77%. On the other hand, Marfin Popular Bank, Ellaktor and Alpha Bank fell by 4.92%, 4.39% and 4.29% respectively, while National Bank’s losses also exceeded 4%.
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