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Greek bank shares sold off sharply for the third day in a row on Wednesday with buyers yet to emerge on a scale large enough to counter continued dumping of the stocks.
The Athens bourse's banking index ended 27 per cent lower, bringing the three-day plunge since Monday's open to 63 per cent. The rout dragged the wider market down 2.5 per cent although non-financials outperformed banks. Alpha and Piraeus Bank both closed 29.6 per cent lower, effectively at the 30 per cent daily loss limit. The former has 1.06 million shares on offer and the latter 2.8 million. There were no buyers for either.
"With bank shares continuing their dive for a third day in a row, the rest of the market's effort to stabilize was dampened. A tail of unexecuted sell orders on shares of Alpha and Piraeus indicate there may be more pressure on Thursday," said Takis Zamanis, chief trader at Athens-based Beta Securities.
