Dwindling interest in the RASDAQ

Investor interest in the RASDAQ Electronic Market has been dwindling over the last few months, once a series of issuers were transferred to the Stock Exchange, while others simply faded into oblivion. The lower and lower interest for the companies on RASDAQ also shows in the January broker ranking, where the stocks traded by brokerage companies have decreased. The total value of the RASDAQ transactions handled by the top ten brokers stood at some 13.9 million euros in January, that is, the average volume of a single trading session on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Compared with January 2005, the total volume traded by the top ten brokers shrank by over three times. The main cause for the drop in the traded value is the transfer of Biofarm and Socep to the Stock Exchange, given that Biofarm was one of last year”s “stars” on the RASDAQ, witnessing heavy trading. The hardships the textile industry producers were faced with represented yet another problem. Braiconf Braila and Confectii Vaslui, two of the heavily traded issuers in the first half of 2005, slowly lost the investors” interest, and as a result their liquidity has been very low lately. Under the circumstances, the ranking of the top brokers is a reflection of the large transactions. ING Securities, ING Bank”s broker, grabbed the number one spot

with a 5.75 million-euro volume, which translates into a market share of nearly 30%. ZF