The Greek equity index plunged by as much as 23 per cent this morning as the market was opened for the first time in five weeks.
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) had been shut throughout the country’s recent debt crisis, but has been reopened after the country and its creditors struck a deal to avoid Greece’s imminent default.
However, the market plummeted on the opening bell, led by the major banks, which all fell by the 30 per cent daily limit imposed by the Greek authorities.
The ASE index has since recovered somewhat from the opening fall and was trading around 17.2 per cent lower in the early afternoon.
Before reopening the market, the Greek government had implemented a series of restrictions on trading in an attempt to minimise volatilty in the markets, including banning people from transferring money from their bank accounts in order to buy shares.
