Athens Exchange

Greek stocks followed the upward international trend on Tuesday after a Black Monday that saw the local benchmark fall almost 13.4 percent, though the closing prices at Athinon Avenue were some way below the day's high, pointing to the possibility of more losses on Wednesday.

The double whammy of mounting worries over the coronavirus epidemic and the standoff between Saudi Arabia and Russia on oil output and prices wreaked havoc on global markets, with Athinon Avenue taking a serious beating on Monday in the biggest daily declined suffered in almost four years. All of the impressive gains recorded in 2019 have been wiped out in the last few session, as the benchmark

The combination of disappointing quarterly results in the country's growth in October-December and mounting concerns over the impact of the coronavirus on the economy resulted in yet another slide in stock prices at Athinon Avenue on Friday.

The Greek bourse went back into a downward spiral on Thursday, as domestic and international concerns over the novel coronavirus epidemic spread faster than the disease itself.

Athinon Avenue experienced a mixed day on Wednesday following a number of sessions during which trends were clear, with the benchmark showing moderate gains as the banks index lost some ground.

The Greek bourse rebounded on Tuesday in a faster and more impressive fashion than was expected, after its worst week in over five years. While coronavirus concerns have not subsided, the recovery in US markets on Monday and hopes for action from central banks boosted prices.

The Greek stock market reacted to news of the first coronavirus case in Athens - plus a second in Thessaloniki - with a fresh selling spree on Saturday, closing the session on the day's low, which points to fresh losses on Friday. The cancellation of Carnival festivities around the country this weekend is also set to hurt local economies.

Tuesday's recovery proved short-lived for the Athens bourse, as the slump on Wall Street later on the same day and the discovery of the first case of coronavirus in Greece on Wednesday led Greek stocks to new six-month lows. The benchmark even dropped below the 800-point mark during yesterday's session, before containing its losses somewhat.

Greek stocks on Tuesday reclaimed some of the ground lost in Monday's 8.3 percent slump, on very encouraging trading volume, with banks jumping by over 5 percent to cover almost half of the previous day's losses. 

Eurobank has applied to take part in Greece's Hercules bad loan reduction scheme via a 7.5-billion-euro securitization, the country's third-largest bank said.
Banks in Greece have been working to reduce a pile of about 75 billion euros in bad loans, a legacy of a financial crisis that shrank the country's economy by a quarter.