Bucharest Stocks Fall, Cyprus Bailout Weighs In

03.18.2013 By Neagu Bogdan Mircea

The Bucharest stock exchange opened deeply in red Monday, as foreign markets tumbled following the surprise announcement of a bailout plan for Cyprus.

The Bucharest market’s BET index was down 1.5% at around 10:31 local time (GMT0831), while composite index BET-C was down 1.4%.

BET-FI, which tracks the regional investment funds (SIFs) and Fondul Proprietatea (FP.RO), was down 0.8%. Proprietatea traded down 1%, and SIF Transilvania (SIF3.RO) was losing 1.6%, but both SIF Banat-Crisana (SIF1.RO) and SIF Muntenia (SIF4.RO) were down just 0.4%.

International markets were shaken by news of the EUR10 billion bailout package for Cyprus, which comes with harsh requirements, including a tax on bank deposits.

European stocks opened down more than 1%, while Asia major indexes were down 2% at the opening of the Bucharest market.

Bucharest benchmark index BET-BK was down 1.2% after 30 minutes of trading, while extended blue-chip index BET-XT was losing 1.3%.

Energy stocks tracker BET-NG was down 1.6%, with OMV Petrom (SNP.RO) trading down 2%, and Transgaz (TGN.RO) losing 2.6%.

Traded values on the Bucharest market were slightly higher than in the past sessions, with the total turnover reaching 3.2 million lei (EUR0.7 million) at 10:31. Proprietatea and the SIFs were the most traded stocks, followed by Banca Transilvania (TLV.RO) and Petrom. (EUR1=RON4.394)