Athens Stock Exchanges ends lower on Tuesday as investors remained anxious about negative implications of the Cyprus bailout plan and if it would serve as a template for other euro zone economies.
Although the deal brought temporary relief to investors soon focused on the future ramifications of the bailout plan and what this meant for other larger economies with weak banking sectors.
In Cyprus, the scheduled reopening of banks has been postponed to Thursday from Tuesday and even then they would be subject to capital controls to prevent a run on deposits.
The first read of the domestic market could be positive according to Beta Securities as Cyprus worst case scenario is away and this could lead to a positive reaction in most blue chips. The three day session week may shrink volume activity while investors may look for other catalysts that found in the first week of April.
Banks stocks are in focus in Athens as Piraeus Bank agrees to acquire the Greek branch network and operations of three Cypriot lenders for EUR524M. Piraeus drops 8.6%, but the rest of the sector fares better; Alpha down 3.6%, National Bank flat, Eurobank Ergasias up 0.4%. Elsewhere OTE falls 9.3%, PPC sheds 9.6% and Jumbo slummps 11%.
On the board the General Index ends 4.9% lower at 884.94
(source: capital)
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