At the end of August 2022, BET decreased by 3.2% MoM, while on a YTD basis, it decreased by 7.7%, ending August at 12,058.08 points.
The Bucharest Stock Exchange has published its monthly trading data for August 2022. In it, Stock Exchange highlighted that in the first 8 months of 2022, over 1 million transactions were made (an increase of 42% compared to the same period last year). At the same time, the total equity turnover amounted to EUR 3.1bn in the first eight months (+34% YoY), which translates into a daily trading turnover of EUR 189.4m.
The higher levels of trading and volatility are something that can currently be recorded on equity markets across the world. The current situation in Ukraine is by far affecting the commodity market (and by extension energy prices) the most, causing inflation. Considering that several of the largest companies listed on the BVB are energy production companies, this increased trading volume is not surprising.
However, the end of August also recorded some positive news from the BVB, as the BET-TR index hit a new record high with the trading session ending August 18, growing by 1.4% compared to the end of last year, which would mean that it recovered all the value lost after the start of the war in Ukraine. As expected, the BET-NG index (which tracks energy and related activities), increased the most out of all indices and increased by 1.8% in the first eight months of trading.
Moving on to the companies which constitute the largest Romanian Index, BVB, only 5 out of 20 companies increased during the month, but at the same time, some of the companies remained quite stable at +/- 1%. Looking at the companies themselves, Nuclearelectrica recorded the largest relative increase, growing by 50% YoY, followed by Romgaz, which increased by 41% YoY. On the other hand, Alro decreased by 48.9%, Purcari by 39.1%, Teraplast by 35.3%, while Sphera Franchise Group decreased by 28.9%. The decreases in financial companies (Banca Transilvania, BRD) can be attributed to the current macroeconomic situation in Romania, and especially the inflation rate, which hit 15.3% in August, still an increase YoY. To combat this, the Central Bank has been increasing the interest rates, which again, affects the profitability of the financial institutions.
Performance of BET constituents in August 2022 (%)
In total, the BET index ended the month at 12,058.08 points, which is a decrease of 3.2% MoM, and 7.7% YTD.
