UPDATE 1 - Serbian Blue-Chips Retreat After Three-Day Rally

They expect the Serbian market to slide further on global recession fears which are convulsing bourses worldwide.

“Everything is down today. We are going back to where we were before the rises,” a local broker told SeeNews.

“It all depends on the outside factors, not on domestic ones,” the broker said.

The blue-chip BELEX15 index closed down 7.85% at 799.66 points on Thursday, following a three-day rally of some 20%. The index plunged 25.63% last week and has shed over 60% since the beginning of the year.

Asian and European stock markets were weaker on Thursday on mounting concerns that international attempts to restore financial stability will fail to avert a global recession.

“You have to look at the global trends; the three key global markets - the American, the Asian and the European - and this is enough of a comment,” the head of Fidelity brokerage, Mirko Trivunovic, told SeeNews on Thursday.

“I think our index will continue to fall, it certainly will tomorrow,” Trivunovic said.

Total turnover on the BELEX more than halved to 233 million dinars ($3.8 million/2.8 million euro) from 495 million dinars on Wednesday.

Agricultural company Kozara Banatsko Veliko Selo closed unchanged at 5,500 dinars, posting the highest turnover for Thursday, of 46.3 million dinars, in just one transaction.

Blue-chip AIK Banka plunged 11.92% to 3,228 dinars in 20 million dinars of turnover, the second highest for the day.

The composite BELEXline index on Thursday shed 5.29%, reaching 1,610.73 points. The joint SRX index of the bourses in Belgrade and Vienna dropped 8.60% to 407.19.

Reflecting the turbulent times, BELEX narrowed the price range triggering suspension of trading, as of Thursday, lowering the range to +10%/-8% from +/-10% on the official floor and to +20%/-12% from +/-20% on the unofficial floor.

“The bourse narrowed the price fluctuation range as of today, though I don’t think this will help significantly,” Trivunovic said. “Basically, we reflect what’s happening in the world.”

(1 euro=82.9528 dinars)