BELGRADE (Serbia), December 6 (SeeNews) – Serbian share indices ended higher in lower turnover on Thursday, as investors remained cautious ahead of the release of a key report on the future of the country's independence-seeking province of Kosovo, brokers said.
Traders and analysts have pointed out the vagueness surrounding the future status of the U.N.-run southern Serbian province as the main reason for the current stagnation on the Belgrade market.
The blue-chip index of the Belgrade Stock Exchange (BELEX), BELEX15, gained 0.61% to end at 2,254.73 points. The broader BELEXline index added 0.22% to 3,744.71. The joint SRX index of the bourses in Belgrade and Vienna advanced 0.87% to close at 1,266.23 points.
Total BELEX turnover fell to 279 million dinars ($5.1/3.5 euro) from 371 million dinars on Wednesday.
"Nothing special happened," Nebojsa Grujicic, head of equity research with Sinteza brokerage, told SeeNews. “The turnover was small but most of the shares closed higher.»
"Probably everyone expects December 10 and waits for any signal that may be sent," he said. "Everyone is on hold not to make any wrong move."
Legally still part of Serbia, Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999, when NATO bombs drove out Serb forces amid inter-ethnic fighting. Serbs oppose any form of independence for the province, while Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority insists on it. Final face-to-face talks between Serbia and ethnic Albanians authorities ended last week failing to find a compromise on the future status of province.
On December 10, the envoys from the EU, U.S. and Russia are due to present a Kosovo status report to the United Nations.
On the BELEX, bus manufacturer Ikarbus marked the biggest price rise of 7.86% to 5,500 dinars, as 3,077 shares changed hands. Ikarbus surged after the government's Privatisation Agency opened a tender for the sale of the whole state-owned stake of 39.2% in Ikarbus. The remainder is held by a large number of minority shareholders.
“The state sells its packet of shares in Ikarbus and those who speculate about the price probably sold today,” Grujicic said.
(1 euro = 79.5795 dinars)