Greek stock market reopens with a free fall

1	ATHENS - Investors issued a vote of no confidence in Greece?s economy on Monday, dumping Greek stocks as trading on the Athens stock exchange resumed for the first time in five weeks.
2	A plunge of more than 16 percent for the main Greek index and a 30 percent sell-off for bank stocks were the latest signs of Greece?s shattered economy.
3	But the resumption of trading was a necessary step as Greece tries to emerge from controls on financial activity that the government, confronted with a bank run, imposed at the end of June.
4	Analysts said stock prices could begin to recover in the weeks to come, bringing much-needed capital into the country, as investors with an appetite for risk look for ?bargains.
5	In yet another sign of trouble, though, new survey data on Monday showed a fall in Greek manufacturing activity since the government imposed controls in late June on the flow of money out of Greece.
6	Much depends on the outcome of negotiations between government officials and representatives of the country?s international creditors on a multibillion-euro bailout, Greece?s third in five years.
7	The talks entered a second week Monday.
8	If the new deal with creditors is struck and ratified, Greek stocks could rebound nicely,?
9	Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank, wrote in an e-mail.
10	?And if the deal then actually holds, with Greece implementing the structural reforms demanded by creditors, Greece could recover strongly.?
11	After initial talks with foreign envoys Friday that focused on Greece?s finances, privatization of public assets and bank recapitalization, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said that ?there was convergence on some points, less on others.?
12	The stock exchange had been closed since the end of June, when the government also shut banks in an attempt to prevent more money leaving the country after the collapse of talks with the creditors.
13	Banks reopened on July 20.
14	The resumption of trading in Athens was intended to be another step toward normalcy, but instead, investors used the opportunity to flee exposure to the Greek economy.