The Athens Stock Exchange opened after a five-week suspension in Greece with the Athex Composite plunging to 20% at 615.12 when it resumed trading at 10.30 a.m. The falls are even steeper in financials with decreases as much as 30%. The full extent of the losses will be revealed after a few hours of trading.
The opening does not mean that things are back to normal in Athens, especially considering the proximity of the next 3.2-bln-euro debt deadline to the ECB on August 20 and the internal turmoil in the Greek government.
The five-week shutdown had been imposed to avert the collapse of the country’s banking sector.
