According to new data from Deutsche Bank, the Greek stock market was the best investment in 2019.
Greece, Italy and Russia have been the top-performing stock markets in Europe in 2019, a year marked by political and economic uncertainty across the globe.
The new report reveals the Athens Exchange delivered the highest total returns of any major asset class in 2019. The stock market returned over 50% to investors when measured in local currency and it was just behind the Moscow stock exchange when returns are measured in dollars.
The performance of Greek equities signals a remarkable turnaround after a difficult decade for the country.
The Athens General Index (ATG) of Greece’s 60 biggest firms gained nearly 50% to 916 points during the last 12 months. Investors returned to Greek stocks after the country’s bailout ended in August 2018,
“Greek economic growth accelerated in 2019, thanks to recovering government spending and reviving investment coupled with a healthy exports outlook,” Athanasia Kokkinogeni, Europe senior analyst at the research firm DuckerFrontier, told CNBC.
2019 proved particularly good for shares of Greek banks, as Piraeus Bank rose more than 250%, the National Bank of Greece surged 171%; while Alpha Bank’s shares increased 71% and Eurobank’s grew 67%.