PRAGUE/BUDAPEST/WARSCHAU (dpa-AFX) – The most important stock exchanges in Eastern Europe closed differently on Thursday. The focus was on the first day of trading on the Moscow stock exchange after almost a month’s break due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Prague and Warsaw saw gains while Budapest posted losses.
Only 33 companies were allowed to trade in Moscow, including the gas monopoly GAZPROM, the oil company Lukoil (LUKOIL Oil Company) and the state airline Aeroflot (Aeroflot – Russian Airlines). Short selling was also prohibited.
The RTS Index (RTS), traded in US dollars, fell nine percent to 852.64 points in a shortened trading session. In particular, the ruble, which had come under pressure, put pressure on the index. On the eve of the invasion, it had closed just over 1200 points. The Moscow MOEX index, on the other hand, rose by a little more than four percent to 2578.51 points, after having gained more than ten percent at its peak.
The Hungarian BUX lost 1.78 percent to 43,817.63 points. The index was mainly pushed down by the shares of OTP Bank (Orságos Takar És Ker BK ON), which slipped by more than four percent.
In Prague, on the other hand, the leading index PX (PX Prague Stock Exchange Index) closed 0.68 percent higher at 1349.46 points. The three most important stocks of the Czech stock barometer rose uniformly: CEZ (CEZ AS) rose by 1.5 percent, Erste Group (Erste Group Bank) by 1.2 percent and Komercni Banka (Komercni Banka AS) by 0.6 percent.
The Warsaw Stock Exchange also closed with gains. The wig-20 ended the day up 0.85 percent at 2138.80 points, while the broader wig rose 0.89 percent to 64,948.68 points. Asseco stocks recorded strong premiums of 7.1 percent. LPP increased by 5.7 percent and kernels by four percent./sto/ste/APA/tih/jha/