| 1 | ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece's main stock index plunged over 22 percent as it reopened Monday after a five-week closure, giving investors their first opportunity since late June to react to the country's latest economic crisis. |
| 2 | Greek bank stocks suffered the most, hitting or nearing the daily trading limit of a 30 percent loss. |
| 3 | Markets in the rest of Europe, however, were largely unaffected. |
| 4 | The Athens Stock Exchange and Greek banks were closed on June 29, when the government imposed controls on money withdrawals and transfers to keep a run on bank deposits from causing the financial system to collapse. |
| 5 | Banks have since reopened, while maintaining strict cash withdrawal limits. |
| 6 | Greece is expected to head back into recession in 2015 - after briefly emerging from a six-year contraction - due to the effects of capital controls and months of uncertainty over the country's future in the euro. |
| 7 | A monthly survey of business and consumer confidence, the Economic Sentiment Indicator, fell for a fifth consecutive month in July to its worst level since October 2012. |
| 8 | "The negative development is the result of the sharp deterioration in business expectations in all areas, but also a recent and significant decline in consumer confidence," said the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research, or IOBE, which conducts the survey. |
| 9 | Greece is currently in intense negotiations with bailout lenders in an effort to negotiate the terms of a massive new rescue package in the next two weeks. |
| 10 | The country needs to complete the talks and get more loans before Aug. 20, when it has a repayment to make worth more than 3 billion euros to the European Central Bank. |
| 11 | Deputy Finance Minister Dimitris Mardas did not comment on reports that Athens could seek a short-term loan to tide it over in case the talks have to be extended. |
| 12 | "The (negotiation) timetable is truly pressing ... We are preparing for what has been agreed upon, correcting any gaps that may appear," Mardas told private Skai television. |
| 13 | Negotiators from the European Union and International Monetary Fund are seeking faster cuts in early retirement plans set out by the government, and stricter conditions for a tax arrears payment program. |
| 14 | Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is facing opposition to the new bailout from within his left-wing Syriza party that could force him to call an early election in the fall. |
| 15 | Syriza dissenters are openly calling for a return to the drachma, but failed last week to force an emergency party conference before the bailout negotiations are completed. |
| 16 | "The government has to choose between a humiliating agreement to sign a third bailout, or abandon the agreements reached in Brussels and seek alternatives for a positive course out of this crisis," former welfare minister and prominent dissenter Dimitris Stratoulis said over the weekend. |