Greek stocks surging as traders welcome reform plan
Traders are going nuts for Greek stocks at the moment. This is because the Eurogroup, ECB President Mario Draghi and the IMF (to an extent), appeared to sign off on Greece's planned reforms.
Shares on Athens Stock Exchange are surging by nearly 10% by 3:35 p.m.
The Greek stock market initially opened around 7% higher after Greece's radical new government released the details of its reforms plans early. In the six-page document, Athens rowed back on campaign promises to halt privatisations, boost welfare spending and raise the minimum wage and pledged to consult partners before key reforms and keep them budget-neutral.
Greek citizens reacted angrily to the proposed agreement, as detailed by CNBC, however traders appeared more than happy with the reforms (judging by the stock movements).
The confidence clearly paid dividends later in the day. Greek stocks are up nearly 14% over the year after the powers-that-be announced that they were happy (although the IMF and ECB not so much) about the troubled country's plans.