Budapest Stock Exchange Index Up in First Trading Week

BUX, the stock index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) closed the first trading week of 2022 with a rise, closing at 5,956.74 points on Friday, up 2.44% on the previous week, or 1,236.03 points.

The turnover of the stock market was HUF 52.44 billion, up from 24.88 billion in the previous four days of trading, with most of the leading stocks rising.

Bence Józsa of Equilor Befektetési Zrt. pointed out in his weekly summary to the state news agency MTI that the central bank has stopped raising interest rates. The interest rate remained at 4% in Thursday's one-week deposit tender, which only caused an intraday correction in the forint exchange rate, and it started to strengthen again shortly after the tender was called.

He pointed out that the margins of Mol's refineries became stronger in December 2021 than in the month before. Mol's group-wide refinery margin rose to USD 4.2/barrel from USD 2.8/barrel in November, while the petrochemical margin increased to EUR 649.4/ton from EUR 605.8/ton in November. Compared to the third quarter, both the refining and petrochemical margins fell slightly, but at the overall company level, the increase in oil prices compensated for the resulting profit loss, he said. During the week, Mol's share price rose by 3.17%, by HUF 80, ending the week at HUF 2,600, with a weekly turnover of HUF 9.4 billion.

The price of OTP shares rose by 3.55% to HUF 590, closing the week at HUF 17,190, with a weekly turnover of HUF 31.98 billion.
Magyar Telekom closed the week up 1.09% or HUF 4.5, closing at HUF 416 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 482 million.
Richter fell by HUF 30, or 0.34%, to close the week at HUF 8,695, while the pharmaceuticals stock had a turnover of HUF 7.74 billion.