No sign of stock slide turnaround

The slump continued for the majority of stocks on the Greek bourse on Wednesday as banks kept dragging on the market, as has been the case over the last few weeks. The increased turnover suggests that sellers mean business and will likely persist until foreign portfolios are convinced that bank stock prices are low enough to buy back in again.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,173.01 points, shedding 1.70 percent from Tuesday’s 1,193.30 points. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 25 contracted by 2 percent, closing at 377.18 points.

With the success of the three-year bond issue having already been factored in and no action on the privatizations front, traders remained focused on banks ahead of this fall’s stress tests, and particularly Alpha, which has witnessed a notable flight of foreign portfolios from its share capital in recent days. On Wednesday the lender’s stock gave up 1.90 percent.

OPAP fell 3.77 percent, Piraeus Bank dropped 3.75 percent and Jumbo lost 3.71 percent. Folli Follie bucked the trend, adding 2.16 percent.

In total 36 stocks reported gains, 85 sustained losses and 16 remained unchanged.

Turnover amounted to 157.7 million euros, up from Tuesday’s 134.5 million.

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