BUX Index Rose on Falling Turnover This Week

The stock index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) rose this week amid falling turnover, closing at 44,217.85 points on Thursday, the last trading day of the week, 4.49% higher than the previous week's closing price, MTI reported Sunday morning along with a brief analysis of the week’s trading.

The weekly turnover of the stock market was HUF 24.67 billion on the four trading days, compared to HUF 34.12 billion the previous week, with the leading shares, with the exception of Magyar Telekom, gaining.

On Monday, the Hungarian stock market closed up 1.59%, with leading shares gaining. Turnover was low, below average, and there was no corporate news.

On Tuesday, the BUX rose 1.57%, also performing well by European standards, with the leading shares, except Magyar Telekom, gaining. Richter was the main driver of the rise, mainly due to the announcement that the company will buy back HUF 40 billion worth of its own shares over the next 12 months.

On Wednesday, the BUX closed up 0.49%, outperforming European indices, with leading stocks performing mixed. Mol's share price was driven up by the board's dividend proposal, with shareholders expecting a record HUF 350 dividend this year after HUF 300 last year.

The good mood continued on Thursday, after buyers returned and share prices rose in the previous days. The stock index rose 0.77%, with leading shares gaining from the previous day's close. Richter announced before the open that it would begin a share buyback program announced on Tuesday, which was the reason for the larger gain in the pharma stock.

In this week’s trading, Richter gained 8.12%, the stock closed at HUF 7,920 on Thursday, with weekly turnover exceeding HUF 6.4 billion.

The price of Mol rose by 5.85%, ending Thursday's trading at HUF 2,714, with a weekly turnover of almost HUF 6 billion.

OTP gained 2.28% this week, closing Thursday at HUF 10,210, with a weekly turnover of HUF 11.2 billion.

Magyar Telekom was unchanged this week, closing at HUF 400.5 on Thursday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 472.5 million.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares closed the week at 3,515.13 points, up 41.46 points, or 1.19%, on the previous week.