December 17 (SeeNews) - Bucharest stock indices lost ground in low volumes on Thursday, reflecting falls on global markets triggered by U.S. jobless data, brokers said.
The blue-chip BET index of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, BVB, slid 2.1% to 4,803.92 points. The BET-FI index, which tracks the country’s five regional investment funds, the SIFs, dipped 2.42% to 24,169.49 points.
The composite BET-C index ended 1.81% down at 2,765.65. The ROTX index of Romania's 15 most liquid stocks, a joint index of the BVB and the Vienna Stock Exchange, shed 1.86% to 9,999.98.
“The bourse corrected today, reacting to the global markets brought down by news that U.S. jobless claims rose unexpectedly. Apart from this, there were no special events today. The news about [interim premier] Emil Boc forming a new government was already priced in,” one broker told SeeNews.
BVB's turnover slumped to 14.1 million lei ($4.8 million/3.3 million euro) on Thursday from 67.5 million lei on Wednesday. The volume of traded shares dropped to 25.3 million from 60.7 million on Wednesday.
Blue-chip bank Banca Transilvania closed 1.25% lower to 2.37 lei in the day's largest turnover of 3.2 million lei. SIF 5 Oltenia slid 2.27% to 1.29 lei on deals worth a total of 3.15 million lei, Thursday’s second highest turnover. SIF 2 Moldova ended 2.54% down at 1.15 lei in the session’s third largest turnover of 1.8 million lei.
SIF 1 Banat Crisana slipped 2.5% to 1.17 lei in deals worth 877,000 lei, while SIF 3 Transilvania closed 2.16% down at 0.68 lei in 697,000 lei turnover.
The other blue-chip bank BRD dropped 3.6% to 13.4 lei in 544,000 lei turnover. Austria’s Erste depreciated 0.87% to 114 lei in deals worth 524,000 lei.
Blue-chip oil refinery Rompetrol Rafinare sank 4.19% to 0.0571 lei in deals worth 535,000 lei. Petrochemicals group Oltchim tumbled 11.72% to 0.256 lei in 668,000 lei turnover. The broker gave no reason for the sharp fall.
The BET-XT index, which tracks the 25 most liquid companies on the bourse, including the SIFs, ended 2.11% lower at 474.08 points. The BET-NG, which includes companies from the energy sector and utilities, fell 2.02% to 583.75 points.
Rasdaq-C, the composite index of the over-the-counter market RASDAQ, edged up 0.03% to 2,226.30. Turnover on the RASDAQ dropped to 542,000 lei on Thursday from 4.7 million lei on Thursday, when 47.15% shares of leasing company Metropolitan Leasing changed hands for a 4.3 million lei in a single transaction.
(1 euro = 4.2172 Romanian lei)
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