Free Fall on the Hungarian Stock Market This Week

Amid rising trading volume, the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) stock index fell this week; on Friday, the BUX closed at 140,050.08 points, down 7.42%, or 11,221.99 points, from the previous week. Weekly trading volume totaled HUF 259.7 billion, up from HUF 99.8 billion the previous week, while the prices of leading stocks declined.

On Monday, the BUX closed lower, with OTP dominating the day’s news: the BUX posted a decline of over 1% due to OTP’s significant weighting in the index. It was reported at the time that OTP Bank was considering a complete withdrawal from the Russian market and would make a decision on the matter by the end of the year.

On Tuesday, the decline continued due to the gloomy international sentiment, with all leading stocks closing lower than the previous day’s closing price.

On Wednesday, market turnover was higher than average at HUF 54.6 billion, with OTP dragging down the BUX. Analysts noted that OTP saw a sharp drop amid heavy trading volume, which can be attributed to the announcements made in recent days. Also on Wednesday, it was announced that Duna House would enter the German market: DH Group is establishing a joint venture with REF Real Estate Franchise GmbH, the master franchisee of RE/MAX in Germany, thereby entering the German real estate brokerage market.

The continued decline on the Budapest Stock Exchange on Thursday came as no surprise, as the overall picture was similar on international stock exchanges.

On Friday, the BUX rebounded slightly, performing in line with the region but underperforming compared to the leading Western European markets. OTP shares saw significant trading volume of nearly HUF 52 billion, with the stock slightly recovering from the previous day’s sharp decline.

Among the leading stocks this week, OTP fell the most, by 12.25%, closing at HUF 40,250 on Friday, with weekly trading volume exceeding HUF 217.2 billion.

Magyar Telekom’s share price fell 0.79% during the week; the stock closed at HUF 2,520 on Friday, with weekly trading volume totaling HUF 4.4 billion.

Richter’s share price fell 2.0% during the week, closing at HUF 12,230 on Friday, with weekly trading volume exceeding HUF 12.7 billion.

Mol’s share price fell 5.79% during the week to HUF 4,852, with trading volume of HUF 22.1 billion.

The BUMIX index, which tracks small- and mid-cap stocks, fell by 0.55% or 50.46 points, closing the week at 9,064.47 points.