1 | Greece's stock exchange reopened today with a drop of more than 22% after a five-week shutdown imposed by the country's debt crisis and capital controls. |
2 | The main index fell over 22% and shares in the main Greek banks took a heavy blow at the opening with drops of around 30%. |
3 | The exchange in Athens has been closed since the height of the country's financial crisis in June. |
4 | "But we must not get carried away. We must wait until the end of the week to see how the reopening will begin to be dealt with more coolly." |
5 | The stock exchange operates as normal for foreign investors but local traders face limits on their transactions as part of the capital controls imposed by the government last month. |
6 | The restrictions mean that Greek investors are unable to finance the purchase of securities by taking money from their bank accounts in Greece. |
7 | They will, however, be able to use foreign bank accounts or make cash transactions. |
8 | The volatility cap has been reduced from 30% to 20% during the first three days of trading. |
9 | The country's lenders are in a vulnerable position because of outflows of billions of euros from deposits over the past six months. |
10 | Some 40bn has been withdrawn from Greek banks since December, according to the country's banks association, amid fears over the fate of the Greek economy. |
11 | The reopening of the stock market comes after senior EU and IMF auditors held their first meetings with Greek ministers to finalise a new three-year bailout for the country which could be worth up to 86bn. |
12 | The last trading session on the Athens stock exchange was on 26 June, ending a few hours before Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced a referendum on the stringent bailout conditions demanded by Greece's international creditors. |
13 | In response, worried Greeks rushed to withdraw cash from ATMs, prompting the government to impose capital controls from 29 June and announce the closure of the country's banks and the stock exchange. |
14 | The banks reopened on 20 July but withdrawals and money transfers abroad remain restricted. |