Vol 13 (2016) - Issue 4

Article preview

An Account of the Performance of the Greek Stock Market

The Athens Stock Exchange
The Greek stock market started trading in 1876 as the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). During the 1990s, reforms that modernised ASE took place. In 1991, the first electronic trading system (ASIS) was established, replacing the open outcry method. In addition the Central Securities Depository (CSD), which settles the transactions, is founded by that time. In 1999, the Athens Derivatives Exchange Clearing House (ADECH) and the Athens Derivatives Exchange (ADEX) started to operate and the derivatives market started trading for the first time in August 1999. The merge of the Athens Stock Exchange and the Athens Derivatives Exchange resulted to the formation of the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX).
The markets that operate in it are the regulated security market, where trading in stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and bonds is available, the regulated derivatives market in which the market participants can trade Futures, Options and Repos, the alternative market, for stock trading, the carbon market, in which auctions for the primary allocation of EUAs is realised and the OTC market in which the securities between the investors are realised, off market. Additionally, the HELEX Group institution enables investors to realize trades in foreign markets and access them directly, due to its highly technologically developed and reliable infrastructure.
The Athens Exchange is responsible for the calculation and dissemination over 30 indices worldwide. The indices’ range is quite wide including not only standard but also sector indices, total return indices and partner indices, which cover in addition to the Greek markets, foreign markets too.
The six dominant indices of the ATHEX are the Composite Index (GD), the FTSE/Athex Large Cap (FTSE), the FTSE/Athex Mid Cap Index (FTSEM), the FTSE/ Athex Market Index (FTSEA), the FTSE/ATHEX Global Traders Index Plus (FTSEGTI) and the FTSE/ATHEX Factor-Weighted Index (FTSEMSFW).
The Athens Composite Share Price index started trading on 31 December 1980 with basis 100 points, compromising on a real time basis a measure of the shares’ performance of the companies which trade in the Big Cap segment of the ATHEX.
The FTSE/Athex 20 index, designed by the ATHEX in cooperation with the FTSE International Limited, started on 23 September 1997 with 1,000 points as its basis, focusing to track the performance of the twenty biggest companies that are quoted in the ATHEX, in terms of capitalization, on a real time basis.
The FTSE/Athex Mid Cap index, designed by the ATHEX in cooperation with the FTSE International Limited started with 1,000 points as its basis on 8 December 1999 and is mainly focused on monitoring the performance of the forty biggest companies, in terms of capitalization, listed in the ATHEX, that follow in terms of ranking the shares that constitute the index FTSE/ Athex 20.
The FTSE/Athex Market index, designed by the ATHEX in cooperation with the FTSE International Limited started with 2,000 points as its basis on 31 December 2002 and it represents the performance of all the companies that are listed in the ATHEX on a real time basis.
The FTSE/ATHEX Global Traders Index Plus, is a free float capitalization weighted price index and it depicts the performance of thirty listed companies with highly globalised activity both in export as well as through production from abroad. It has implemented a three step capping methodology, which was launched in December 2012.