Investor fears in Greece send yields up, market index down
Political crisis in Greece has investors on edge (Part 3 of 5)
Greece adds uncertainty to Eurozone
Greece (GREK) is making headlines on a regular basis these days. The country’s internal political strife appears to be threatening the entire Eurozone’s financial and political stability.
In 2010, Greece was the first economy to spark the European debt crises, followed by Ireland, Spain, and Portugal. The iShares MSCI Ireland Capped ETF (EIRL), the iShares MSCI Spain Capped ETF (EWP), and the Global X FTSE Portugal 20 ETF (PGAL) invest in the latter three economies.
Back in 2010, Greece’s economic instability and debt situation weighed down the European economy, which was already being hammered by the Great Recession of 2008–2009.
How has the stock market performed in Greece?
Two bailouts got Greece up and running. After trending downward until early 2012, the stock market, as measured by the Athens Stock Exchange Composite Index, revived. Then it began a bumpy upward trend for two years. By early 2014, however, economic and political uncertainty were revisiting the country. And since then, the Athex Composite Share Price Index, along with the FTSE/Athex Large Cap Index that tracks the 25 largest companies on the Athens Stock Exchange, have seen a downward trend.
The Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (GREK) tracks the FTSE/Athex Large Cap Index. Certain Europe-focused ETFs such as the iShares MSCI EMU ETF (EZU) also invest in Greece.
Next in this series, we’ll analyze how bond yields have performed in Greece over the last five years, as it’s struggled to recover from the economic abyss.
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