European stock markets closed lower today, after the destabilization caused by the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which in turn affected the European banking sector and caused fears of contagion of the crisis.

The CAC 40 in Paris fell 2.90%, the Dax in Frankfurt closed down 3.04% and the FTSE 100 in London fell 2.58%, while the Milan Stock Exchange closed down 4.03 %.

In particular, the FTSE 100 index in London recorded its biggest daily decline since last July.

However, heavy losses remain today in regional US banks, with some big names suffering major falls, including First Republic Bank, which plunged 67% at the opening on Wall Street, halting trading. At the same time, Western Alliance Bank was also quick to reassure its investors by clarifying in a statement issued that it is taking steps to meet the financing needs of its customers.

At the same time, investors in the US have turned to the bond markets as, alarmed by the developments, they turn to the greater safety offered by government bonds.

Mild decline for the Athens Stock Exchange

On the other hand, the Athens Stock Exchange closed today with a slight fall. The General Price Index closed at 1,049.55 points, down 0.64%. Intra-sessionally it recorded a lower price at 1,025.17 points (-2.94%). Initially the pressures were intense with the market recording a drop that approached 3%, but then it managed to limit the losses. The banking index closed on positive territory, with the share of National Bank registering high profits.

The value of transactions amounted to 152.62 million euros, while 65,113,121 shares were traded.

The large-cap index fell 0.63%, while the mid-cap index fell 0.69%.

Of the high capitalization shares, the shares of Sarantis (+4.32%), Ethniki (+3.73%), Piraeus (+0.71%) and Jumbo (+0.67%) recorded an increase . On the contrary, the biggest drop was recorded by the shares of Mytileneos (-2.98%), Viohalco (-2.96%), OPAP (-21.05) and OTE (-1.93%).

Of the individual indices, the largest increase was recorded by the indices of Financial Services (+1.78%) and Banks (+0.97%), while the largest losses were recorded by the indices of Health (-2.90%), of Industrial Products (-2.74%) and Raw Materials (-2.22%).

The largest volume of transactions was presented by Alpha Bank and Piraeus, trading 21,293,171 and 9,761,431 shares, respectively.

The highest value of transactions was recorded by National Bank with 26.61 million euros and Alpha Bank with 24.94 million euros.

26 stocks moved up, 87 down and 16 remained stable.

The biggest increase was recorded by the shares: KREKA +11.11% and Vioter +10.71%. The biggest drop was registered by the shares: Tria Alpha (p) -10.00% and Attica Bank -9.99%.