BUX Index Rose on Rising Turnover This Week

The stock index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) strengthened this week, with the BUX closing at 67,039.30 points on Friday, up 1,994.24 points or 3.07% on the week, MTI reported this Sunday with a brief analysis of the week’s trading.

The stock market turnover for the week was HUF 67.084 billion, up from HUF 60.90 billion the previous week, with the leading stocks, except Magyar Telekom, rising.

Equilor Investment Plc. said in its weekly summary that the National Bank of Hungary cut interest rates by 50 basis points on Tuesday, in line with expectations, bringing the base rate down to 7.75%. In a statement released after the rate decision, the central bank said that in the new phase, which started in April, the Monetary Council will decide on further cuts in the base rate at a slower pace than before, guided by data. MNB Vice Governor Barnabás Virág said that he still considers the previously set target of lowering the base rate to the 6.5-7.0% range by the summer to be realistic.

Equilor analysts pointed to the government's two-week ultimatum to retailers on fuel prices, with Economy Minister Márton Nagy announcing that the government had decided to intervene if fuel prices did not return to the regional average within two weeks.

Target price increases for OTP. Goldman Sachs raised its 12-month target price on OTP Bank from HUF 20,700 to HUF 22,600, while Citi raised its 12-month target price from HUF 19,300 to HUF 19, 620, with the recommendation unchanged at both banks.

Important announcements were made at OTP's general meeting on Friday. CEO Sándor Csányi said that he is willing to sell his Russian subsidiary at a discount of up to 50%. He also said that a non-binding offer had been made for a credit institution in the EU, which would be OTP's largest acquisition to date. He also said that there was interest in privatizing Ukrainian state-owned banks.

Magyar Telekom's share price fell by 3.13% this week. The stock ended trading at HUF 898 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 2.86 billion.

OTP rose by 4.55% this week, closing at HUF 17,710 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 32.27 billion.

Mol rose 1.49% this week, closing Friday at HUF 3,004, with a weekly turnover of HUF 6.66 billion.

Richter rose 3.9% to close at HUF 9,200 on Friday, with a weekly turnover of HUF 12.74 billion.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares closed the week at 6015.58 points, down 9.82 points, or 0.16%, on the previous week.