MSCI

The shake-up of the MSCI indexes, the 1.7 percent jump in the 10-Greek bond yield and eurozone concerns over the impact of a "hard Brexit" weighed on the benchmark of the Greek stock exchange on Thursday while the bank stocks index sank to a new 33-month low.

MSCI has confirmed the worst-case scenario by deciding to strike the stocks of three out of the country's four systemic banks - National, Piraeus and Eurobank - from the MSCI Standard Greece index and relegate them to the MSCI Small Cap Index during the biannual revision of its indexes, with an immediate impact on the Athens stock exchange's banks index, which tumbled 7.1 percent on Wednesday.<

The relegation of National Bank, Eurobank and Piraeus Bank from the MSCI Standard index for emerging markets into the MSCI Small Cap Index, from which Ellaktor has also been removed, had a significant impact on Wednesday's trading session at Athinon Avenue, hurting the prices not only of bank stocks but other sectors too.

As the market awaits the formal announcement of the new composition of the MSCI stock indexes on Tuesday, pressure on most blue chips - especially those in the credit sector - led the benchmark at Athinon Avenue lower on Monday, with turnover climbing above 50 million euros.

Closing auctions on the Greek stock market helped minimize the rather sizable losses sustained by the benchmark at the start of the trading week on Monday, with bank stocks remaining the focus of sellers due to speculation concerning the exclusion of some of them from the MSCI Standard index for emerging markets.

The steep losses of Greek bank stocks since May, which have led to them halving in value, will likely see them relegated from international indexes, and therefore dropping off the radar of major foreign portfolios.

August ended with losses of 4.15 percent for the Greek stock market's benchmark, while banks fell over 14 percent, as Friday saw another session of decline albeit with the highest turnover of the last three months, mainly thanks to the rebalancing of the MSCI index.

The intense buying activity of few market participants, particularly in the mid-cap category, led Greek stocks higher at the Athens Exchange on Wednesday, despite the cautiousness of European markets.

According to domestic analysts, the market is hoping for an upgrade of the Athens stock exchange by the FTSE and MSCI indexes, increasing capital inflow.

The stock rebalancing due to changes in the MSCI indexes led to significant shifts in the closing auctions of Thursday's trading session in Athens that accounted for about two-thirds of the entire day's turnover. It concluded the month of May at Athinon Avenue, with the benchmark suffering losses of 11.93 percent over that period.

The Athens Stock market recorded a slight 0.30% rise, as the general index hovered around the 829-30 mark. Trade volume was overall slow with foreign investors probably waiting till September to focus on their portfolios when the changes in the MSCI index are expected to take effect.