The global flight from emerging market assets, and bleak short term outlook for the BUX heavyweights exposed to Russian markets still weighed for most of the day, but a volatile return into black of most European peers late afternoon helped stabilise the Budapest parquet after Tuesday’s steep fall.

Local considerations may have also helped.

The national economy minister said at a forum on Wednesday that prolonged cheap energy prices could accelerate Hungary’ s GDP growth next year to 3.0-3.1% compared to the government’s official estimate of slowing to 2.5% from an estimated 3.2% this year.

Analysts also busily calculate the beneficial impact of cheap energy on Hungary’s current account.

Late afternoon the prime minister’s press office said the prime minister and the governor of the National Bank of Hungary would hold a joint press conference Thursday morning, divulging no subject.

Also late afternoon, based on news of recent multilateral talks, rumors started to spread in the market that the South Stream gas pipeline project was, after all, “not dead”.

OTP recuperated 1.38% to HUF 3,735, after a rarely seen dive of 6.97% the previous day, on turnover of HUF 7.54 bln from a HUF 11.47 bln session total, almost one-and-a-half times the daily average this year.

MOL rose 0.68% to HUF 11,035, off a more than five-year low on Tuesday, on turnover of HUF 1.06 bln.

Magyar Telekom won 2.42% to HUF 339 on turnover of HUF 439 mln.

Richter retreated 1.59% to HUF 3,469, another nine-month low, on turnover of HUF 2.28 bln.

The bourse’s mid-cap BUMIX went out 0.23% higher at 1,436.21.

Elsewhere in the region, Warsaw’s WIG20 was up 0.77%, while Prague’s PX dipped 0.45%. Western Europe’s major indices were mixed ahead of their close Wednesday, FTSE-100 in London up 0.30%, DAX30 in Frankfurt down 0.12%, and CAC40 in Paris up 0.66%.