BUX Index Rose on Falling Turnover This Week

The stock index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) rose slightly this week, closing at 56,232.21 points on Friday, up 117.80 points or 0.21% from a week earlier, MTI reported Sunday morning, long with a brief analysis of the week’s trading.

Weekly turnover on the stock market was HUF 53.54 billion, up from HUF 89.22 billion the previous week, with leading shares performing mixed. Telekom and OTP rose marginally, while Mol and Richter fell.

In its weekly summary, Equilor Investment Plc. pointed out that despite the negative international investor sentiment, the Hungarian stock index reached a historic high on Thursday, mainly thanks to the outstanding performance of OTP.

In related bank stock news, Goldman Sachs raised its 12-month target price on OTP from HUF 16,800 to HUF 18,600, with an unchanged buy recommendation. There are currently 12 buy and two sell recommendations on OTP Bank, with a median target price of HUF 13,635.

Richter also received a target increase this week, this time with Polish PKO BP raising their 12-month target price on the pharmaceutical stock from HUF 9,500 to HUF 10,600, with an unchanged buy recommendation.

Among the macro data releases this week, the second quarter GDP figure stood out, which painted a less favorable picture of the Hungarian economy than expected. Compared to the previous quarter, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) recorded a 0.3% decline, instead of the 0.2% growth expected by analysts, while on an annual basis, GDP fell by 2.4% in raw data, or 2.3% adjusted for working days. The largest contributors to the decline in economic output were industry, market services, mainly transport and storage, and trade, with the decline moderated by the good performance of agriculture, the report said.

Among the leading stocks this week, OTP, which gained more than 6% in the second week of August, appreciated 0.11% to HUF 15. The bank stock closed at HUF 14,100, with weekly turnover exceeding HUF 30.8 billion.

Magyar Telekom also rose 0.11% this week, closing at HUF 440.0 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 251.9 million.

The price of Mol fell by 0.67% this week, closing at HUF 2,652 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 6.4 billion.

The price of Richter weakened by 0.752%, the share ended trading at HUF 9,230 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of nearly HUF 7.4 billion.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares closed the week at 4,815.02 points, up 267.10 points or 5.87% on the previous week.