After a dreadful run in December, Greek stocks are starting the New Year with another hammering. As of 2.45 p.m. GMT, the Athens Stock Exchange is down by another 4.92%. That's in keeping with recent history: stocks are down 42% since their 2014 peak in March, tumbling in the biggest one-day crash since the late 1980s after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced an early vote on the country's president. Samaras failed to get the votes he needed from Greece's legislators, prompting a snap election. On current polling it looks like radical left-wingers Syriza will triumph. That would cause a lot of uncertainty for Greece and Europe in general, since the party wants to tear up Greece's bailout conditions and demand significant debt relief. The election is not until the 25th of January, so there may be further sell-offs to come. The index is below 700 for the first time in 18 months, and there's little sign of any relief at the moment. It's not the only index down, the rest of Europe is not looking so hot. Here's the scorecard: France's CAC 40: -2.49% Germany's DAX: -2.26% UK's FTSE 100: -1.57% Spain's IBEX: -2.67% Italy's FTSE MIB: -3.16%Join the conversation about this story »
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