The sell off in the Stock Exchange is accelerating, cracking in Europe as well

The upheavals from the conflict between Ukraine and Russia show no sign of de-escalation, with European markets and the Athens stock market in a geopolitical vortex, the like of which has not appeared in the recent past, as Western sanctions on Russian activities are quite strict.

In particular, the General Index records losses of 4.39% at 886.70 points, while the turnover is at 64.5 million euros and the volume at 30 million units. The FTSE 25 also recorded a drop of 4.67%, to 2,152.45 points, while the banking index lost 7.99% to 642.91 points.

On the other European charts, the German DAX is at 14,238 points, down 2.24%, the French CAC 40 is down 3% and is trading at 6,551 points, while the British FTSE 100 is trying to make defenses by limiting its own losses to 1, 05% moving to 7,410 units.

Although the upheaval on the Ukrainian front was evident in international markets in the past, no one, or even a small portion of investors, expected the escalation to be so large that we would talk about war and heavy economic sanctions. the West.

It is indicative that the exclusion of Russia, ie the Russian banks and the central bank of the country from Swift, creates problems in related parties from other countries that have exposure to the Russian economy and Russian banks, as they can not pay and be paid . Even investors and custodians (for example, who have bought Russian bonds) can no longer sell them and get their money back, even at a loss.

In Greece, the exposure to Russian assets could not be considered large, but developments in Eastern Europe complicate the risks faced by Greek companies. And this is happening in a admittedly difficult international environment, as, as Optima Bank states today, despite the positive prospects of Greece, the risks are higher than last year associated with: 1) inflationary pressures that erode disposable income (consumption) and profit margins, 2) geopolitical tensions (Ukraine, Turkey), 3) political developments (electoral risk) and 4) tighter fiscal and monetary policies, which, if implemented sharply, could slow the recovery.

Also, no one can ignore the new rise in energy costs, due to the events in Ukraine, with oil gaining 4.5% and gas recording a jump of 20%. Markets are increasingly worried about the possibility of an energy crisis following new Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

On the board

On the board now Eurobank loses 9.50%, with Ethniki being at -8.84%, Coca Cola at -7.20% and Alpha Bank, Piraeus and Ellaktor recording losses of more than 6%. Over -5% are GEK Terna and Viohalko and over -4% are Lambda and Mytilineos.

The drop in Aegean, Motor Oil, Titan, Quest and Sarantis exceeds 3% and that in Saranti, ELHA, IPTO, Hellenic Petroleum, PPA, Jumbo and PPC by 2%. OTE, EYDAP and OPAP are moving above -1%, with Terna Energy losing 0.92%.