BUX Index Up on Rising Turnover This Week

The Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) share index, the BUX, closed the week at 52,838.78 points, up 668.98 points or 1.28% from last Friday, on rising turnover, the state news agency MTI reported this Sunday.

Total turnover rose to HUF 67.755 billion, compared with HUF 56.395 billion the previous week. The leading shares were mixed.

The BSE started the week on a weak note, with the BUX down 1.62% on Monday, although Western stock indices were down even more. By Tuesday's close, the Hungarian stock index was down just 0.37%, followed by rises of 1.61% and 1.75% on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

According to Equilor Investment, stock market movements were largely driven by international sentiment, which improved in the first half of the week but turned negative by mid-week due to the expected monetary tightening in the United States. They added that BUX's share price was also affected by the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, with OTP and Richter having interests in Eastern European markets. If the threat of war is prolonged, stock market uncertainty could persist in the longer term and it will be difficult to predict the evolution of exchange rates, they added.

The BUX closed the last day of the trading week slightly lower, while Western stock indices fell much more. Analysts say the BSE may have performed better because OTP, the largest-turnover issuer, was saved from weakening by a target increase from Austria's Erste.

In relation to Mol, it was mentioned that Oman Oil has exited the Hungarian oil company. Oman Oil has sold its shares to two Mol Special Employee Share Ownership Programs (SEMPs), reducing its voting rights in Mol from 7.14% to zero.