Cyprus shares dive lower

Equity prices on the Cyprus Stock Exchange dived lower on Tuesday, declining by another 1.76% to 4148.27 points, taking the weekly losses to 6.4% and nearly halving the year-to-date gains to 6.4%. Total volume amounted to EUR 34.9 mln.

Bank of Cyprus Pcl (BOCY) fell 2.63% on the day to EUR 11.10 on EUR 13.2 mln volume, taking its weekly losses to 5.9% and cutting its year-to-date gains to 7.5%.

The Bank of Cyprus market cap on the CSE fell to EUR 6.15 bln.

The decision of the Bank to reject the takeover bid submitted by Marfin and the announcement by the CSE that it has declined to allow MPB to proceed with the publication of its takeover bid for both Bank of Cyprus and Piraeus Bank was instrumental to force speculators to abandon the stock.

Marfin Popular Bank Pcl (CPB) was the second most active, declining 0.75% on the day to EUR 7.92 and taking its weekly losses to 6.6%. Since the start of the year however, the stock is up 9.09% while its market cap on the CSE has also declined to EUR 6.15 bln.

Hellenic Bank Pcl (HB) which in the last sessions has been hit by heavy selling pressure bucked the declining trend and edged 1.3% higher on Tuesday to EUR 3.08, and in the process cut down its weekly losses to 8.9%. The recent decline in the share price has forced the stock 7.2% lower since the start of the year.

Ocean Tankers Pcl (OCT), the recent darling of the speculator community continued to bleed heavily as it lost another 19.6% to end Tuesday at EUR 1.15, down sharply from its recent all-time high of EUR 1.88 per share as more shipping funds sold, taking advantage of the stock’s unrealistic gains. Since the start of the year and despite the recent losses, OCT is still up 89%.

Louis Pcl (LUI) was the fifth most active on the CSE, ending Tuesday trading with 1.82% losses at 0.54 euro cents on EUR 543k volume.