Cyprus stocks touch near 3-year lows

Equity prices on the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) continued lower, touching near 3-year low levels as the barrage of sell orders originating on the banking titles from foreign fund managers showed no signs of abating.
The General Index closed Tuesday at 1662.34 points, taking its weekly losses to 20% while since the beginning of the year, the index has lost 65.5%, the worst performance among eurozone members. The index is now trading close to its December 2005 lows.
Bank of Cyprus (BOCY) shares ended Tuesday at EUR 4.38, a record low for the year and near levels not seen since December 2005 taking their year-to-date losses to 66%. In Greece, Bank of Cyprus shares also closed at EUR 4.38. The announcement that the Chairman of the Bank, Aristodimos Theodorou has purchased 1 mln shares came after the close of business.
Marfin Popular Bank (CPB.CY) ended at EUR 2.79 on the CSE and EUR 2.77 on the ASE, taking its year-to-date losses to 69% while Hellenic Bank (HB.CY) ended at EUR 1.49, for a year-to-date loss of 68%.
European shares meanwhile extended losses on Tuesday, mirroring a sell-off in U.S. stocks, prompted by renewed fears of recession fears and a fall in commodity shares. London’s FTSE 100 ended 1.51% lower at 4215 points, the CAC-40 bucked the declining trend and closed 0.61% higher at 3469 on the back of the French bailout plan while the German DAX ended 1.51% lower at 4762 points.
US stocks fell on Tuesday on worries over earnings and the profit outlook as the slowing economy sapped business and consumer demand.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.50% to 9,219.39 by midday New York. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.65% to 978.97. The Nasdaq Composite gave up 0.8% at 1,755.83.