Prospect of rift inflicts losses on bank stocks

The intention of investors to cash in on last week?s gains and concerns over a possible rift between Athens and its eurozone peers resulted in a losing start to the week for Greek stocks, with banks sustaining considerable losses.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 859.70 points, shedding 3.85 percent from Friday?s 893.98 points. The large-cap FTSE/ATHEX 25 index contracted 4.81 percent to end at 258.18 points.

With banks set to be the first to suffer from a deadlock between Athens and the rest of the eurozone, the credit sector index posted an 11.50 percent decline yesterday. National Bank fell 12.41 percent, Piraeus slipped 12.22 percent, Eurobank dropped 12.09 percent and Alpha shrank 8.86 percent, while mid-cap Attica Bank gave up 16.88 percent. Things would have looked worse for the benchmark had its biggest stock, Coca-Cola HBC, not risen 1.95 percent.

In total 31 stocks recorded gains, 79 suffered losses and 21 remained unchanged.

Turnover reached 88.6 million euros, down from last Friday?s 210.3 million, given also the bank holiday in the US.