BUX Index Rose on Falling Turnover This Week

The stock index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) rose on a downward trend this week, closing at 41,304.36 points on Friday, up 6.88% on the previous week's close of 2,659.79 points, the state news agency MTI reported on Sunday morning.

Turnover fell from HUF 132.69 billion the previous week to HUF 99.98 billion, with leading shares rising.

In a summary sent to MTI, Equilor Investment Plc. said that the BUX index rose this week, partly due to the EU's decision on the oil embargo to temporarily exempt crude oil transported by pipeline from the sanctions.

The summary also noted that 4iG reported significant growth this week. The company published its first quarter report on Tuesday, which showed a jump in revenue and earnings due to a large number of acquisitions. Total revenue jumped from HUF 15.4 billion in the first quarter last year to HUF 69 billion, while EBITDA jumped from HUF 1 billion to HUF 14.5 billion. Profit after tax was HUF 1.017 billion, compared to HUF 566 million this time last year.

Earlier this week, Poland's PKO Bank cut its 12-month target price on OTP Bank from 14,267 forints to 10,055 forints and maintained its buy recommendation.

According to Equilor's weekly summary, the move by the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) did not come as a surprise when it raised its one-week deposit rate by 30 basis points on Thursday to 6.75% from 6.45% previously.

Mol's share price rose the most this week, by 11.02%, closing at HUF 2,842 on Friday, with weekly turnover exceeding HUF 24 billion.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares closed the week at 3951.09 points, up 97.86 points or 2.54% on the previous week.