ING Securities and Raiffeisen Capital & Investment, the brokerage firms from ING Bank and Raiffeisen Bank, last month occupied the number one and number two spots among stock brokers in terms of value of transactions. Each enjoyed a market share of 12% and saw transactions worth 22 million euros. October experienced an average growth of 20% in share prices and a significant increase in the value of transactions due to large buy orders, most likely from foreign investors, brokers say. Top trading last month saw the sale of a 0.6% stake in Petrom by SIF Oltenia for around 14 million euros and the sale of 4.7% in Petromidia by SIF Transilvania for 11 million euros. The Petrom sale involved various buyers, while the Petromidia stake changed hands in a single deal as was sold to a bank for a client’s account. The most spectacular climber among brokers was Swiss Capital, whose transactions last month were six times higher in value than for the first three quarters of the year. ZF