Political tensions in Romania linger as the country’s Constitutional Court postponed for August 31 a decision on the outcome of the referendum on whether to oust suspended President Traian Basescu, citing discrepant data regarding the number of voters.
Fights over the presidential seat and political uncertainties have reduced investor confidence and caused the leu’s exchange rate to hit a record low of 4.6481 versus the euro Thursday.
The Bucharest bourse’s composite index BET-C climbed 0.31% to 2,653.75, and blue chip index BET added 0.27%, to 4,741.53.
The BET-FI index, which tracks the five regional investment funds (SIFs) and Fondul Proprietatea, gained 1.27%, with all issuers ending in green. Proprietatea closed up 0.48%, to 0.5225 lei (EUR0.11) a share.
The extended blue-chip index BET-XT closed 0.62% higher.
The Bucharest bourse’s benchmark index BET-BK gained 0.5%, with Erste Group Bank (EBS.RO) ending up almost 2%, to RON66.5 (EUR14.3) a share.
Energy stocks tracker BET-NG rose 1.03%, supported by OMV Petrom (SNP.RO), with a 1.09% increase, Transgaz (TGN.RO), which gained 1.66%, and Transelectrica (TEL.RO), with a tepid increase of 0.07%.
The bourse’s overall traded value stood at RON24.7 million (EUR5.3 million). Share trades amounted to RON21.4 million (EUR4.6 million), of which RON2.4 million came from a special deal with Fondul Proprietatea shares.
Proprietatea was again top-traded issuer on the main market with share transactions worth RON9.4 million. It was followed by SIF Oltenia (SIF5.RO), with RON4.9 million, and Erste Group Bank, with RON1.3 million. (EUR1=RON4.6481)