Release of New Data Makes Hungarian Stock Market Soar

The Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) share index, the BUX, closed the week at 135,725.68 points, up 1.54%, or 2,053 points, from last Friday’s close.

Total trading volume on the stock market fell to HUF 101.932 billion from HUF 121.467 billion the previous week, with leading stocks gaining ground, with the exception of Mol. Trading was volatile; the BUX underperformed in the first half of the week due to unfavorable international sentiment, but on Thursday the index corrected the declines of previous days, and on Friday it closed the week on a positive note with a significant gain.

In its weekly summary, Equilor Investment Ltd. highlighted among the events influencing stock trading that Mol and Gazprom have already reached a broad agreement on the purchase of the Russian company’s stake in the Serbian firm NIS, and are currently finalizing the terms.
Serbia’s energy minister announced on Thursday that Serbia will increase its own stake in NIS and will also have a say in strategic decision-making if Mol acquires the Russian stake in the company. Mol has committed to operating the Panchovo refinery at high capacity.

Among this week’s macroeconomic news, it was noted that May’s inflation figures came as a pleasant surprise, remaining unchanged on a monthly basis while rising by 1.8% on an annual basis. The consumer price index has thus remained below the central bank’s tolerance band—at or around 2%—since December.

Among the major stocks this week, OTP saw the biggest gain, with its share price rising 4.22% to close at HUF 42,490 on a trading volume of HUF 64.9 billion.
Magyar Telekom shares rose 3.64% to HUF 2,730 on weekly trading volume of HUF 9.2 billion.
Richter rose 0.1% to HUF 11,930 on weekly trading volume of HUF 11.4 billion.
Mol shares fell 2.1% to HUF 3,826 this week, with a trading volume of HUF 13.3 billion.

The BUMIX index, which tracks small and mid-cap stocks, closed at 9,262.76 points on Friday, down 0.57%.