BUX hardly moves while OTP convalesces

While Western markets performed mixed, the Budapest parquet hardly moved in quiet trade after a plunge on Friday.

OTP Bank convalesced after a 3.44% dive on Friday in the wake of an auction sale of 5% of it by the state during a suspension on Thursday with an average 6% discount from its closing price on the preceding Wednesday.

Oil company MOL suffered news over the weekend that its Croatian peer and subsidiary INAʼs net income fell 85% in the third quarter from a year ago on revenue that decreased 21%.

Drugmaker Richter followed suit with a plunge of 2.64% on Friday to also recuperate a bit on Monday, after investors suspected the government wanted to sell a stake in it as well, although the government denied any such intention.

Hungaryʼs manufacturing PMI fell to 55.3 points in October from 55.8 in September which was the highest this year, data out on Monday showed. Some analysts argue the limited slowing should be a sign of resilience defying global headwinds from China and the US Fed, but others remind the index has been unreliably volatile since late spring, alternating between figures signaling growth and decline since June.

New car registrations in Hungary rose 33.9%, the strongest tic this year, from a year earlier to 8,192 in October, the Hungarian Vehicle Importers Association (MGE) said also on Monday. However, the total is still a far cry from a monthly average of 14,000 units shortly before the global and domestic crisis struck in late 2008.

A final reading of Hungaryʼs foreign trade data registered a smaller August surplus than preliminary figures showed. While year-to-date surplus rose to a historic high, the surplus in August itself narrowed for a second month to the second lowest this year, while both exports and imports significantly fell for also a second month in monthly comparisons. Annual export growth accelerated a tad in August from July, but the pace remained well under the year-to-date average.

OTP rose 0.46% to HUF 5,500 on turnover of HUF 3.28 bln from a preliminary HUF 6.91 bln session total, nearly a quarter short of the daily average this year.

MOL dipped 0.47% to HUF 12,715 on turnover of HUF 1.14 bln.

Magyar Telekom improved 0.26% to HUF 393 on turnover of HUF 250 mln.

Richter advanced 0.19% to HUF 4,725 on turnover of HUF 2.16 bln.

The bourseʼs mid-cap BUMIX went out 0.27% higher at 1,598.58.

Elsewhere in the region, WIG 20 in Warsaw was up 0.86%, while Pragueʼs PX added 0.35%.

Western Europeʼs major indices were mixed ahead of their close on Monday, with FTSE100 in London down 0.01%, DAX30 in Frankfurt up 0.90%, and CAC40 in Paris up 0.58%.