BELEX Shares Close Higher for Second Day Running

“It is a second positive day in a row but it doesn’t mean we can expect this on a daily basis from now on. I’m not optimistic for the long term,” a local broker told SeeNews.

The blue-chip BELEX15 index closed up 3.27% at 493.37 points after adding 0.67% on Tuesday when it halted a run of eight successive closes in the red. Since the beginning of the year the global financial crisis has knocked some 79% off the benchmark.

The composite BELEX line index gained 1.98% to 1,100.30 points, while the joint SRX index of the bourses in Belgrade and Vienna edged up 0.13% to 237.17.

“The volumes have visibly become bigger but they are still concentrated on a small number of shares. Some foreign investment funds are closing their position on the Serbian market, probably pushed by investors at home withdrawing money,” the broker said.

Total BELEX turnover rose to 265 million dinars ($4.2 million/3.0 million euro)  form 226 million dinars on Tuesday, when trading in AIK Banka shares accounted for some 108 million dinars.

On Wednesday, AIK Banka gained 3.63% to 1,971 dinars in the day's largest turnover of 103 million dinars. Shares in blue chip Agrobanka rose 5.07% to 3,836 dinars in 41 million dinars of turnover, the second highest for the day.

On Wednesday, gainers outnumbered losers by 29 to 25, while 27 stocks remained unchanged.

(1 euro = 87.6532 dinars)