--- description: The Athens Stock Exchange reopened Monday morning to a huge loss, with the Athex dropping to 615.16 points within minutes title: The Athens Stock Exchange Drops by 22.8% Upon Reopening image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4e1aa2e118080a2/69885d7fcd684859750a1128/481359722.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Athens Stock Exchange Dropped by Almost a Quarter Upon Reopening by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 3, 2015 8:22 AM CUT  People queue to get money from ATMs as Greek banks reopened on Monday morning after three weeks of closure on July 20, 2015 in Athens, Greece People queue to get money from ATMs as Greek banks reopened on Monday morning after three weeks of closure on July 20, 2015 in Athens, GreeceMilos Bicanski—Getty Images by [Joanna Plucinska](/author/joanna-plucinska/) ## Joanna Plucinska Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 3, 2015 8:22 AM CUT The Athens Stock Exchange reopened Monday morning to a huge loss, with the Athex dropping by 22.8% to 615.16 points — a total loss of 182.36 points — within minutes. According to the BBC, Greek bank shares are to blame for the plunge. Piraeus Bank, National Bank, Alpha Bank, and Eurobank, who represent the country’s largest lenders, all saw a 30% fall in their share values. The exchange was closed for the past five weeks as Greece was renegotiating its debt load with international creditors. The BBC says traders had predicted a drop in share value upon the exchange’s reopening. According to the European Commission, Greece is expected to enter into a recession this year. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-33754005 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3981858/greece-stock-exchange-drop/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3981858/greece-stock-exchange-drop/"},"headline":"The Athens Stock Exchange Dropped by Almost a Quarter Upon Reopening","datePublished":"2015-08-03T08:22:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:50:07.280Z","description":"Analysts blame Greek bank shares for the plunge","url":"https://time.com/3981858/greece-stock-exchange-drop/","keywords":["Greece","Eurozone","Banks"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4e1aa2e118080a2/69885d7fcd684859750a1128/481359722.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joanna Plucinska","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joanna-plucinska/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4e1aa2e118080a2/69885d7fcd684859750a1128/481359722.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"After Three Weeks Of Forced Closure Greek Banks Reopen Ahead Of Tax Rises","caption":"After Three Weeks Of Forced Closure Greek Banks Reopen Ahead Of Tax Rises","creditText":"Milos Bicanski—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3981858/greece-stock-exchange-drop/","name":"The Athens Stock Exchange Dropped by Almost a Quarter Upon Reopening"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Greek Bailout Spurs Violent Protests","description":"Bailout Deal Sparks Violence In Athens","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ReHAiZ31/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-07-13T14:51:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ReHAiZ31.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3981858/greece-stock-exchange-drop/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3981858/greece-stock-exchange-drop/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```