The index, which tracks the performance of the ten most liquid shares, has been on the rise since July and kept going up for seven weeks, reaching 6.985 points on Friday, 0.27% lower than at the end of 2015. It ended 2015 at 7.004 points.
“BET’s performance over the last few weeks is impressive, considering it reached a yearly low of 5.899 points nine weeks ago due to the Brexit, which means a 15.77% decline on the end of last year,” says Ronnie Khreis, analysts with brokerage firm Intercapital.
The Brexit took the financial markets by surprise and DAX, the index of the German stock market, one of the biggest in Europe, fell almost 10%, which is an even worse decline than recorded the day after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. A few weeks after Brexit, however, the markets started rising again, and the Bucharest Stock Exchange was no exception.
The BET rose 4% in August (the average leu deposit interest is 1% per annum), which might change the perception of the summer season, usually considered to be slow. The summer was slow, however, when it comes to traded volume.
“People look at the start of the year with optimism and expectations of an increase when it comes to stock prices, while the summer season has been slow or even a time of decline over the years. This summer started well, though,” says Simion Tihon of Prime Transaction.
The Bucharest Stock Exchange stands high chances of ending the year higher, but 2016 is not a typical year, due to the decline in the first few months and the rise in the summer. Many stocks, especially bank stocks, reached their yearly peaks this summer, and brokers say the trend might continue with the medium-sized issuers.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)