The BUX Strengthened This Week on Rising Turnover

The Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) stock index rose on rising turnover this week, with the BUX closing at 39,846.64 points on Friday, up 1.31% or 515.31 points from the previous week's close, the state news agency MTI.

Turnover rose to HUF 46.99 billion, up from HUF 41.02 billion the previous week, with leading shares rising.

In a summary sent to MTI, Equilor Investment Plc. said that the BUX closed the week in positive territory, as global recession fears subsided in the second half of the week and a more optimistic international investor sentiment prevailed in the markets.

They stressed that the Hungarian forint (HUF) has had a "tough week" and the 200 basis points hike by the Hungarian National Bank on Thursday was not enough to boost the currency.

OTP has announced that it will issue green bonds, with a total value of EUR 400 million, with a maturity date of 13 July, according to Tuesday's information. The bonds will have a maturity of 3 years and will be callable after 2 years, Equilor reports.

It is recalled that Mol won a lawsuit against the Croatian state before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Mol is to receive USD 236 million in damages, up from the USD 1 billion it had originally demanded. The damages awarded amount to HUF 120 per share. Mol filed the lawsuit against the Croatian state in December 2013, and the Croatian state is now considering possible legal action; it remains interested in buying back INA, according to Equilor's summary.

Among the leading stocks, Richter was the strongest performer this week, rising 3.67% to close at HUF 7,195 on Friday, with weekly turnover exceeding HUF 5.17 billion.

The BUMIX index of small and medium-sized shares closed the week at 3,705.12 points, down 2.57 points, or 0.07%, on the previous week.