Greek banks weigh down stocks as bailout talks grind on

Athens

THE Athens stock exchange slipped further on Tuesday, weighed down by bank shares, as Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos prepared for a new round of talks with Greece's creditors on the terms of a mammoth new bailout.

In early-afternoon trading, the Athex index was down 1.26 per cent after suffering its steepest-ever fall of 16.32 per cent on Monday when trading resumed after a five-week shutdown imposed by the country's debt crisis.