BUX Index Fell This Week Amid Declining Turnover

The Budapest Stock Exchange's (BSE) share index, the BUX, closed the week down 5.70% at 38,950.67 points, or 2,353.69 points, compared to last Friday, according to a summary published by the state news agency MTI Sunday morning.

There were only four trading days during the week due to Pentecost, but even so, the drop in turnover was still significant, falling from HUF 99.989 billion to HUF 40.280 billion. Leading shares also fell sharply.

The BSE already started the first trading day of the week with a significant decline, but the BUX remained above 40,000 points. The decline was partly caused by the release of details of the special ‘extra profit’ tax. On Wednesday, the stock index rose temporarily, albeit weakly, but on Thursday, it fell below 40,000 points, followed by another significant fall on Friday.

Equilor Investment Plc. explained the fall in the BUX mainly by the unfavorable international mood. Elsewhere this week, equity markets have also performed poorly on the back of negative news, with inflation extremely high everywhere. In the second half of the week, investors were worried about a larger-than-expected monetary deterioration in the U.S. and did not take well to the announcement of further tightening by the European Central Bank, either.

At the BSE, Richter shares weakened the most this week, by 8.79%. The fall was a change of HUF 655, with the closing price at HUF 6,800.

The BUMIX index of small and medium shares fell 2.13% to 84.20 points, ending the week at 3,866.89 points.