BUX Index Strengthened on Low Turnover This Week

The stock index of the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) strengthened this week on low turnover, closing at 45,069.12 points on Friday, 2.01% higher than a week earlier the state news agency MTI reported on Sunday morning – along with an analysis.

The weekly turnover of the stock market was HUF 46.36 billion, up from HUF 49.02 billion the previous week, with the value of the leading shares increasing.

In its weekly summary sent to MTI, Equilor Investment Plc. highlighted among the week's major macroeconomic events: the EU agreement was reached on Monday, the food price freeze will remain in force until the end of April 2023, the credit moratorium will be lifted next year, Hungary will be allowed to buy natural gas from Qatar, and the European Central Bank extended the repo agreement with the Hungarian central bank.

In the corporate news, the analyst house mentioned that OTP Bank signed an agreement to acquire Ipoteka Bank of Uzbekistan, and that Opus' revenues and pre-tax profit also rose significantly.

Leading stocks were both stronger this week. OTP's share price rose by 3.90% on Friday, closing the day at HUF 10,390; the bank's paper had a turnover of HUF 25.9 billion for the week.

Mol closed Friday at HUF 2,616, up 0.62%, with a weekly turnover of HUF 6.6 billion.

Richter gained 0.74% on a turnover of HUF 11.6 billion, closing Friday at HUF 8,865.

Magyar Telekom gained 2.31%, ending Friday's trading at HUF 332.0, with a weekly turnover of HUF 929.2 million. The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares ended the week at 3,653.48 points, up 29.63 points or 0.82% on the previous week.