BUX further down in pre-holiday trade

Ahead of a national holiday in Hungary to be stretched out to four days from Thursday, the Budapest bourse followed Western markets down the slope in slow trade, reflecting global amazement in view of Chinese bourses resuming their plunge despite government money pouring in.

While euro zone markets diligently pared losses by late afternoon, gloom carried the day in Budapest in waiting for statements from a regular government session on matters expected to have been discussed, including the handling of migrants, an issue that has already pitted Hungary-EU relations, converting foreign-currency car loans into the local currency, and a response to the EUʼs prohibition in July of Hungaryʼs application of two special taxes, the steeply progressive food inspection fee and special tobacco levy, due to the EUʼs pending probe into the taxes on illicit state aid considerations.

Meanwhile, Hungarian economic and enterprise research institute GVI, operated by the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, revealed on Tuesday that its Quarterly Business Climate Index decreased from 21 points in the second quarter from 24 points in the first quarter. The second-quarter value is still higher from the 18 points measured a year earlier.

And following disappointing second-quarter Hungarian GDP figures published last Friday, analysts start to ponder that further legislative and administrative efforts of the government to whiten the economy through an all-encompassing electronic billing and payment system connected into the tax office might give dangerous opportunity to the government to look into confidential business matters, and may cause further economic slowdown if introduced without some tax cuts.

Having risen on good second-quarter results until Monday, MOL corrected sharply down, apparently unable to withstand the effect of steadily falling oil and petrol prices.

OTP worked off a bit of its 3.88% plunge in the last two days late afternoon, to fall back again at the closing bell.

OTP lost 0.39% to HUF 5,600 on turnover of HUF 3.46 bln from a HUF 6.66 bln session total, almost a third short the the daily average this year.

MOL dove 2.23% to HUF 14,255 on turnover of HUF 1.62 bln.

Magyar Telekom dropped 0.99% to HUF 400 on turnover of HUF 311 mln.

Richter retreated 1.78% to HUF 4,361 on turnover of HUF 1.18 bln.

The bourseʼs mid-cap BUMIX went out 0.24% higher at 1,693.37.

Elsewhere in the region, WIG 20 in Warsaw was down 0.21%, while Pragueʼs PX let go 0.15%.

Western Europeʼs major indices were all down ahead of their close on Tuesday, FTSE100 in London 0.11%, DAX30 in Frankfurt 0.06%, and CAC40 in Paris 0.01%.