Athens stock market falls 4.5% on debt concerns

The Athens stock market dropped 4.55 percent at midday Friday amid new debt worries the day after Greece said it would bundle four IMF loan repayments due in June, buying more time until the end of the month.

After suffering a three percent loss at Friday's 0730 GMT opening, Greece's Athex Composite index continued to decline to 789.47 points, a 4.55 percent drop, with stocks of Greek banks reporting losses of over eight percent.

Before its decision to bundle the IMF loan repayments to a single June 30 reimbursement, cash-strapped Greece had been due to deliver to the IMF an initial 300 million euro ($338 million) repayment on Friday.