Romanians beat foreign BSE investors

Foreign investors spent another $5.6 million on the Stock Exchange in November, but the downward trend of prices was not reversed, because many Romanian investors rushed to sell their shares. The quoted amount is about half the total investments made by non-residents since early this year. The record foreign investment level registered last month comes after two months (September and October) during which the net investments made by non-residents on the Stock Exchange had registered a negative value (that is more money out than in). In each of the two months, the non-residents sold about $0.25 million more than they bought. The Romanian brokers and investors were expecting to see foreign investments, the capital market included, pick up after Romania’s invitation to join NATO. This could have led, at least theoretically, to an increase in quotes, due to the higher demand for shares. The increase in foreign investments on the Stock Exchange in November cannot be related to the invitation to join NATO, though, as the invitation had been awaited since this spring, while those waiting for the decision in Prague will not make any investment until early next year. ZF