Biggest weekly loss ever: Greek banks record 64% plunge in three days

On Monday Greece's stock market resumed its work after being closed for five weeks, and the country's banking sector lost 64% in the first three days of trading.

This comes as the wider Athex Composite Index lost just 19% those days, as investors grappled with what’s next for the country’s stock market after the government averted an 11th hour default in July.

As MarketWatch reported, for the banking index, the weekly loss is on track to be 59% - the biggest ever and far exceeding a 40% drop in May 2013, when angry workers flooded the streets in Athens in anti-austerity protests. For the  Athex, it’s on pace to suffer 16%, its fourth-worst week ever, after logging its biggest one-day slide in the index’s history on Monday.

These drops come even after both the banking index and the Athex staged a recovery in Thursday’s trade, up 13% and 3.7%, respectively.

The biggest losers in Greece this week are Piraeus Bank SA, down 64%, Alpha Bank AE, 64% lower, Eurobank Ergasias SA, 59% lower and National Bank of Greece SA, down 54%.

Source: MarketWatch

The European Central Bank has been supporting the Greek lenders through the emergency liquidity assistance. On Wednesday the bank decided to maintain the emergency funding at around €90 billion ($98.5 billion), which was widely expected as the Greek authorities reportedly hadn’t asked for an increase in the ELA.

According to Bloomberg, customers have deposited about €1 billion in Greek banks since they were reopened on Tuesday, easing pressure on the banking system.