BUX up on OTP
The Budapest Stock Exchangeʼs main BUX index finished up 1.56% at 23,485.90 Monday after rising 0.24% Friday. It is up 41.19% from year-end, after losing 10.40% last year.
The Budapest main index rebounded from an early dip to soar to a second four-and-half-year high within four trading days. The rise was supported by global mood as Western markets pared slight losses late in the afternoon.
The rebound was driven by OTP Bank, scaling again the key HUF 6,000 level which it already crossed last week, on signs of a more conciliatory attitude of the government towards the financial sector, in contrast to views expressed earlier at the central bank that a legislated reduction of the special bank levy next year should be made conditional on increased lending by financial institutions to companies.
Bad news of the day apparently left investors unfazed. These included the latest Financial Stability Report of the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) which highlighted the continuing decline in corporate loan stocks and a proportional growth of non-performing loans as a result, news that the European Unionʼs competition authorities have opened an in-depth probe to see whether Hungaryʼs financing for two new reactors at its Paks nuclear power station breached the blocʼs state-aid rules, following the start last week of an infringement procedure against Hungary over the contract to expand Paks with Russiaʼs Rosatom without a tender, and the latest survey of GKI-Ersteʼs that showed its combined measure of consumer and business confidence slipped deeper into negative territory in November.
OTP won 2.29% to HUF 6,040 on turnover of HUF 4.43 bln from a preliminary HUF 6.77 bln session total, a quarter short of the daily average this year.
MOL rose 1.59% to HUF 13,765 on turnover of HUF 805 mln.
Magyar Telekom ended flat at HUF 411 on turnover of HUF 175 mln.
Richter advanced 1.53% to HUF 5,248 on turnover of HUF 1.25 bln.
The bourseʼs mid-cap BUMIX went out 0.30% lower at 1,627.86.
Elsewhere in the region, WIG 20 in Warsaw was down 2.36%, while Pragueʼs PX added 0.58%.
Western Europeʼs major indices were all down ahead of their close on Monday, FTSE100 in London 0.26%, DAX30 in Frankfurt 0.01%, and CAC40 in Paris 0.17%.
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