Bucharest Share Indices End Mixed in Lower Volumes

The blue-chip BET index of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, fell 1.05% to 4,390.01 points. The BET-FI index, which tracks the SIFs, added 0.65% to 23,286.40 points.

The composite BET-C index edged up 0.08% to 2,652.79 and the ROTX index of Romania's 15 most liquid stocks, a joint index of the BVB and the Vienna Stock Exchange, dropped 1.61% to 9,216.85.

“There was some profit-taking but not too much. Volumes are pretty low as investors are opting to neither buy or sell. I think they are waiting to see how the ongoing political crisis will unravel and what decisions would be taken with regard to the recovery of the [Romanian] economy once it does,” one broker told SeeNews.

BVB's turnover fell to 19 million lei ($6.5 million/4.4 million euro), including 1.3 million lei worth of bonds, from 34.3 million lei on Wednesday. The number of traded shares halved to 59.8 million compared to 100.7 million on Wednesday.

SIF 5 Oltenia advanced 0.85% to 1.19 lei in the day's largest turnover of 3.5 million lei. Blue-chip bank BRD lost 1.61% to 12.2 lei on deals worth 3.2 million lei, Thursday’s second largest turnover. SIF 2 Moldova climbed 0.93% to 1.08 lei in the day’s third largest turnover of 1.55 million lei.

Blue-chip oil refinery Rompetrol Rafinare ended unchanged at 0.062 lei in 1.4 million lei turnover, and Rompetrol Well Services closed 3.11% higher at 0.498 lei in 681,000 lei turnover.

SIF 1 Banat Crisana was up 0.93% to 1.09 lei in 719,000 lei turnover, while SIF 3 Transilvania ended unchanged at 0.685 lei in 1.4 million lei turnover. Blue-chip drug maker Biofarm jumped 7.43% to 0.217 lei in 1.2 million lei turnover.

Blue-chip oil and gas group Petrom backed off 3.7% to 0.26 lei in a turnover of 605,000 lei, while blue-chip oil and gas company Dafora climbed 3.64% to 0.114 lei in deals worth 1.0 million lei.

Blue-chip lender Banca Transilvania slid 3.05% to 1.59 lei in 148,000 lei turnover.

The BET-XT index, which tracks the 25 most liquid companies on the bourse, including the SIFs, was down 0.47% to 436.71 points. The BET-NG, which includes companies from the energy sector and utilities, lost 0.42% to 601.99 points.

Rasdaq-C, the composite index of the over-the-counter market RASDAQ, added 0.43% to 2,195.32. Turnover on the RASDAQ fell to 618,000 lei from 1.4 million lei on Wednesday.

(1 euro = 4.2799 Romanian lei)