BUX Down This Week on Falling Turnover

The Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) share index, the BUX, closed Friday at 42,191.13 points, down 2,843.66 points or 6.31% from last week's close. Weekly turnover on the stock market fell to HUF 115.15 billion from HUF 121.09 billion the previous week, with all leading shares weakening, the state news agency MTI reported this Sunday morning.

The BUX started Monday still rising, with the previous day's parliamentary elections not moving prices significantly. Trading probably remained subdued because the future of EU funds was already uncertain at the time. By Tuesday, it was decided that the EU would start a rule of law procedure against Hungary and international sentiment turned negative, with several leading stocks weakening at the same time.

The international downturn continued on Wednesday on news of the war in Ukraine, with the BSE stock index falling more than the European average. On Thursday, the prospect of monetary tightening in the US dampened stock market sentiment, while on Friday, news of the prospects of a Russian-Ukrainian ceasefire gave a slight boost to equity markets.

OTP Bank shares weakened the most this week, by 11.2%. They closed at HUF 10,865, with a total turnover of HUF 88.4 billion.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares ended the week at 4,151.86 points, down 1.84% from last Friday. Their turnover exceeded HUF 3.229 billion.