Bucharest Stock Exchange reaches record highs

Indices on the Bucharest Stock Exchange reached all-time highs at the end of last week, due to the high traded volumes for this time of the year, which in the past has seen limited activity from investors.
The Stock Exchange is now experiencing the opposite of what it experienced at the end of June 2006, when it reached an annual low, after a significant correction that lasted for several months.
The corrections lasted much less time than they did in 2006, with the Stock Exchange rebounding relatively quickly only to exceed record high levels several times in the past month. A significant contribution to this positive trend came from the foreign investors conducting large foreign currency investments, with the net foreign capital inflows on the BSE amounting to 385 million euros in the first five months of this year, according to statistics from the National Securities Commission (CNVM).
The BET-C index, which gauges the performance of all the listed shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange has increased by 25.2% since the beginning of the year. Growth has primarily been driven by the small caps (small companies with low capitalisation), that witnessed spectacular increases; such as Comelf Bistrita (CMF), 330% or Kandia Excelent Bucuresti (EXC) and Rompetrol Well Services (PTR), over 230% each.
In addition, one factor that hindered the index growth rate was the poor performance registered by Petrom Bucuresti (SNP) shares, which lost 6.2% since the beginning of the year. This meant that the BET index of the ten-most important companies on the Stock Exchange has lagged behind this year, only registering an increase of 14.1%.
The BET-FI, which gauges the performance of the five financial investment companies (SIF), is also at its highest level, witnessing a 28.1% increase since the beginning of the year. SIFs gained more than 10% last week alone, after the CNVM published a decision that allowed investment funds managed by the same company to buy up to 1% of the same SIF each.
The rise of SIFs was also aided by an increase in their assets, given that the companies in their portfolios, most of which are listed on RASDAQ have increased in value this year. The RASDAQ-C, which tracks all the securities listed on RASDAQ has doubled since the beginning of this year and exceeded 5,000 points for the first time at the end of last week.
The spectacular performance of the RASDAQ index can be explained through the fact that many of the companies on this market were greatly undervalued earlier this year. Under the circumstances, many investors directed their attention to RASDAQ, finding a high potential for profit on this market.
A change in the trading regulations on the XMBS market could lead to further growth of the RASDAQ market, as interesting investment opportunities could arise among the 1,400 companies now trading through the XMBS system.