BUX Index Fell on Falling Turnover This Week

BUX, the stock index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) fell on a downward trend this week, closing at 41,805.28 points on Friday, 522.39 points or 1.23% lower than a week ago, the state news agency MTI reported Sunday morning.

The weekly turnover on the stock market was HUF 36.141 billion, compared to HUF 63.918 billion the previous week, with leading shares weakening.

Equilor Investment Plc. said in a weekly summary sent to MTI that the BUX index was "hit" at the beginning of the week, weakening 1.42% on Monday and 1.32% at the close on Tuesday. But in the second half of the week, the index was pulled upwards. Among the leading stocks, the BUX was lifted by the strength of Richter and Mol.

It was also reported that the Monetary Council of the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) raised the base rate and the two edges of the interest rate corridor by 100 basis points on Tuesday, as expected, leaving the base rate at 10.75%. On Thursday, the base rate and the one-week deposit rate were locked again.

The government has decided that only privately owned vehicles, as well as agricultural power machines and taxis, will be able to get fuel at a guaranteed price of HUF 480. The measure came into force at noon on Saturday, justified by the closure of the Százhalombatta refinery from Monday for planned maintenance, thus ensuring fuel supplies from imports and the release of a quarter of strategic stocks.

At a press conference the previous afternoon, Mol CEO Zsolt Hernádi warned that the shutdown of the refinery could lead to supply problems if not enough imported fuel arrives in the country.

OTP weakened the least this week, by 0.27%, on a turnover of HUF 17.299 billion, with the shares ending trading at HUF 8,120 on Friday.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares closed the week at 3,706.53 points, up 17.95 points, or 0.49%, on the previous week.