The Athens Stock Exchange has been under international pressure since the morning, as the disappointing macro data in the US has renewed fears of a recession in the world's No.1 economy.

This concern, understandably, is spreading... terror among investors, who are rushing to limit risk exposure. And in a way, the Greek market is paying the price, which is retreating below 1,430 points in the worst session since August 5.

And all this comes at a particularly important juncture for Athens, which on the one hand is waiting for the verdicts of the rating agencies DBRS and Moody's, and on the other hand is seeing listed companies announce excellent half-year figures.

Specifically, in the 3rd session of the week, the General Index recorded a notable decline of 1.19% to 1,428.84 points, losing 17 points compared to Tuesday's close (1,446.09 points).

The arc of the daily fluctuations extends to seven points (from 1,428.60 to 1,435.84 points), with the turnover of the transactions ranging at 4.5 million in the first 15 minutes.

The banking index "bears" the brunt of the pressure as it slides -1.65% to 1,253 points, 7.5% away from this year's high of 1,354 points.

ΝΒG shares retreat to -1.90% and 7,742 euros, Piraeus' shares narrow to -1.71% and 3,915 euros, Alpha's shares trade at -1.61% and 1,5535 euros, while Eurobank's shares fall to -1.56% and 2,018 euros.

In the high-cap index (-1.30% and 3,466 points), Metlen's shares retreat by 1.8% and fall below 34 euros. A similar range of pressure is seen in the PPC share, which folds up to 11.4 euros. At the same time, Hellaktor shares lose 3%, with Autohellas shares following at -2.6%. Shares of Helleniq Energy, Jumbo, Titan, Aegean (despite the Volotea deal), GEK Terna, AIA, Elvalhalcor and EVDAP are also down by at least 1%. For its part, OPAP, after its EUR 0.6 pre-dividend, is slightly reduced to -0.7%.

As for the mid-cap index (-0.86% and 2,317 points), Intralot's shares stand out at -2.2% and 1.15 euros, with Austriacard, Fourlis, Intrakat, Lavipharm, Quest (today's half-year financials), AVAX, EXAE, Intracom and PPA following at least at -1%. Dimand's share is the only one, which "withstands" the downward wave and is slightly stronger at EUR 9.7.